


Foreigners and Templars

by Light_Mage



Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age II, Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Being Lost, Best Friends, Bi-Curiosity, Bisexual Cullen, Bisexual Cullen Rutherford, Character Death, Closeted Character, Dark, Dark Magic, Depressing, Depression, Developing Friendships, Dom/sub, Emotional Baggage, Emotional Hurt, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Eventual Romance, F/M, Fade Dreams, Fate & Destiny, Feelings Realization, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Humor, Fluff and Smut, Friendship, Idiots in Love, Light Magic, Love Triangles, Lyrium Addiction, Lyrium Withdrawal, M/M, Magic, Male Friendship, Male-Female Friendship, Medieval Medicine, Modern Boy in Thedas, Multi, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Romance, Sad, Sexual Content, Sexual Tension, Sexual Violence, Slow Build, Slow Burn, Slow Romance, The Fade, Warm and Fuzzy Feelings, World Travel
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-13
Updated: 2019-02-02
Packaged: 2019-02-08 00:17:33
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 9
Words: 30,972
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12852621
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Light_Mage/pseuds/Light_Mage
Summary: Waking up in a cold dark moist cave, with danger at every corner would freak anyone out.Adrian, a young Australian man who was relaxing at a beach house for his birthday with his family, was violently teleported (some would say kidnapped) far, far away.Adrian needs to figure out where he is, how he ended up where ever he is, why he is in this horrible position, and also why a group of knights just outside the cave and their handsome Knight-Captain who is an annoying prick with trust issues in medieval armour? Decided that by just existing, he will be forced to go to a magical school called a circle? in a Gallow? In a Kirkwall?Will Adrian be able to save himself from the dangers of this dark, vile, magical world the inhabitants call Thedas?Is he the key to their problems? Will he be able to change the Knight-Captains opinions?We shall see...





	1. Nightmare

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! Here is the first chapter of my revised version of my story, Foreigners and Templars!  
> Previously chapter one was called: Introductions and Unknowns.
> 
> I hope you like it!  
> (FYI: All other chapters are redundant at this point as I will be changing them. But if you're new, please read ahead to see what my story was like before the change!)  
> Thx again for all the comments, likes, subs, follows and hits! :D

**_In a deep dark cave, somewhere cold_** ** _._**    
**_Location:_** ** _U_** ** _nknown..._**    
**_Time:_** ** _U_** ** _nknown..._**    
**_Date: Unknown..._**  

 

* * *

 

  
 _Being completely bruised, covered in bleeding dirty wounds and cuts while_ in excruciating _pain is definitely not the best feeling to wake up to. Then again, waking up in a completely different location to what you remember last while limping away from danger as fast as you can, is definitely way worse._

Dazed, Adrian breathed heavily and fast in a panicked, trembling, pained state, as fogged air leached out of his mouth rapidly into the freezing damp air surrounding him. His eyelids were tightly shut as he tried to calm himself not only from the excruciating pain all over his body but from his wild imagination.  

Opening his eyes after a few deep breaths, Adrian cautiously leaned forward as he turned his head left and right looking past the rocky corner he was hiding behind. Seeing no danger in site, Adrian breathed out in relief, as he decided to grab his right leg with his hands as extra support to add to his step would be a good idea.  

Quickly looking both ways again, Adrian bolted as fast as he could down the dark damp passage ahead, moving one leg at a time. 

Limping as fast as he could through the tiny cavern, while looking behind in nearly complete darkness was a struggle, and being the klutz that he is, Adrian tripped over a small stone and landed quite hard on the solid ground beneath him.   
   
"Shit! Ow!"  

Adrian yelped to himself in pain as the left side of his body, face and hands scraped along the tiny sharp rock shards scattered across the ground. The harsh fall added, even more, scrapes to his already damaged body.    
   
While wincing in pain and struggling to get up, a loud un-earthly shriek echoed throughout the cave making Adrain jump and turn around in shock.    
   
"What the actual hell is that sound?! My mind must be playing tricks on me..."    
   
Adrian whispered as he hugged himself for comfort. Turning around quickly with his arms still crossed around his chest, Adrian decided to scout the surrounding area for a place to hide. Limping forward in pain, Adrian noticed the rocky walls on either side of him were slowly getting further apart while an odd whooshing sound was coming from up ahead, making him believe he was exiting out of the small tunnel and hopefully either the cavern altogether or into a larger, more open space. 

After three minutes of slow painful limping, Adrian reached the end of the tunnel, which opened up into a spectacular magical looking cave. Large light blue crystals littered the surrounding scene illuminating and sparkling the cavern and all of its contents. The gashing sound of the beautiful waterfall landing gracefully into the lake bellow created a wonderful natural roar, while a large crater up above allowed sunlight, vines and a slight breeze to pass through shimmering and warming the cave as it twinkled across the water's surface.    
   
Adrian's mouth opened in awe as he looked around in shock.  

"Wow... I... This is absolutely incredible, it's like a scene in a magical fantasy movie or video game..."  

Taking one step forward to get a better look at the amazing view was all Adrian could do before another loud shriek echoed throughout the cave even louder than before. Eyes wide in shock, Adrian grabbed his right leg and quickly limped across the rocky surface towards a large manmade stone column nearby. Swiftly scattering behind the column, Adrian pressed his stiff back and arms against the large manmade stone cracked and decorated with an interesting but unrecognisable language. It was cold to the touch, but this was the only place he could find to hide in his quick getaway inside this ridiculous cave. 

 _What the hell was that!_  Adrian thought, shivering, adrenaline going wild inside his body, while items inside his backpack pressed sharply into his bruised back. 

Moving slightly to the right, Adrian poked his head between the gaps of the weird stone structure he found himself hiding against sneakily and saw something he would never have believed to have been a reality in a million years. Crawling out of the dark tunnel he exited out of not even a minute ago, was a gigantic, hairy, eight-legged monster of a spider that put all of the ones found in Australia and across the globe to shame. 

Eyes and mouth completely open wide in disbelief, Adrian winced as he shrunk down a bit, going pale.  _T_ _hat's not possible! There is no way this is happening! How... how the hell is this... happening?!... Spiders are never that big... oh my god_ _..._ _why... why did it have to be large spiders the size of freaking trucks?!_ _I'm so fucked!!! I'm_ _going to_ _die!!_  

Adrian took a deep breath with his hands over his mouth to try and calm himself, but this was a lost cause, Adrian was petrified of normal spiders the size of coins let alone huntsman's and poisonous spiders... this was a nightmare. 

A loud sinister high pitch wobbly shriek echoed through the cold crystal cavern, vibrating along the dark moist earth walls and right through Adrian's average but small body.  Adrian's bright blue-grey eyes which usually showed a kindness of warmth and trust bulged open with tears running down his slim rounded face, while his plump pink lips opened to represent the shape on an "o". 

In a state of complete shock, anxiety and shutdown, Adrian slid down the hieroglyphed column he was pressed against until his behind landed on the dirty hard ground. Adrian pressed his face into his knees, noticing his skinny jeans were soaked, ripped and freezing, he unknowingly started rocking back and forth while his arms wrapped around his legs.  _Please!_ Adrian screamed in his mind,  _make this nightmare stop!_  

Going completely numb to his surroundings in shock, Adrian's thoughts turned from pleas of distress to survival, as his mind and body distinctively took over to turn the stress into something helpful, humour.  

 _This can't be real! This feels too real... no wonder that Harry Potter site placed me into_ Ravenclaw, _I may be smart but I'm not brave enough for this shit to be in Gryffindor, who could be brave in this situation!?_ _Definitely not me!_  

During Adrian's emotional freak-out the cave went eerily quiet. Adrian calmed himself breathing deeply trying to make no noise, he then noticed that all he could hear was his breathing and the loud roar of the waterfall up ahead. 

 _Why is it quiet? It's too quiet..._ Adrian questioned and opened his eyes and jumped in his fetal position when another massive loud shriek tore right through his heart...  _That was too loud, where the heck is that...oh no,_  if you were to look at Adrian right now in this unusual but dire situation, you would have noticed him turn four shades lighter than usual with a pinch of green. 

Right above him, crawling slowly hanging upside down, but loud enough to hear slight scratching was the huge hairy beast with eight large legs, it's many glowing bug eyes marking its prey. Some would call it fascinating others terrifying or outstanding maybe even cute in a fucked-up mind. Adrian knew one thing... and one thing only... there was no bug spray in his backpack... let alone enough to do any damage to this thing. 

Adrian screamed in a tone a little higher than normal panicking. 

"Please! Please leave me alone! I... I promise to leave, I just want to leave!"  _Why am I begging at a large spider! I'm an idiot, it's as dumb as a small one!_ Adrian wished he could punch himself for his stupidity. It's massive sharp hollow fangs sprung out as fast as an eye blink, leaking with a liquid most likely to be venom with a matter which probably had similar enzymes that can liquidise food as normal venomous spiders … 

Adrian made a sound some would call a squeak, in any other condition he would have been red-faced and flustered.  

"NO! PLEASE! SOMEONE HELP!"  

Adrian screamed in terror trying to look for a way out of this situation, but it was made impossible as the beast sprung forward. 

In a matter of what felt like an eternity, Adrian forced his cut bleeding hands towards the giant spider's direction trying to cover his face when he felt a burning sensation all over his hands and arms. There was nothing he could do as everything flashed a powerful blinding white light. 

All went silent... 

 

 **_Location: Melbourne, Australia, Earth – 24hours ago_ **  
**_Time: 9 ** _:_** ** _12_** ** _AM_**_ **  
**_Date: 5 ** _th_** ** _February 2019_**  _ ** 

 

* * *

  
 An annoying buzzing sound could be heard in the near distance, vibrating against a simple industrial modern bedside table, made out of rustic brown wood with dark grains scattered across its rough looking surface and a black matte metal as its slim angular legs and trimmings. 

On this table were a few interesting appliances, this included a lamp, a digital alarm clock, a glass of room temperature water, half empty, a miniature bamboo plant growing quite well and a Samsung Galaxy 8 Plus smartphone vibrating quite annoyingly loud. 

Adrian slowly opened his blue-grey eyes in a drowsy state from being rudely awakened from his amazing "beauty sleep". 

"Ugh..." Adrian mumbled rubbing his eyes to remove sleep from them. 

 _I can't believe it's morning already,_  Adrian thought while reaching over to slide his smart phone's screen to the right stopping his morning alarm. '9:12 am' was shown large and bright on the home screen with an image of Earth in the background. 

Adrian pressed the power button, turning the screen off and placed his phone back down, laying snuggled in his warm sheets thinking.  

 _Man... I could stay in here all day, sleep for another 100 hours maybe 1000 years and do nothing! But of course, I'm an adult and I need to do adulty things..._  Adrian sighed slowly removing his silky summer bed sheets to get out of his double sized bed. 

Rubbing down his grey pyjama shorts and shirt to make himself look more presentable, Adrian looked into his mirror which was actually sliding doors to his wardrobe. He sighed again,  _Great... I really need to take a shower, why do I have to produce so much oil_ _in my hair_ _overnight? it's humiliating and dumb._  

Adrian thought in a whined tone rubbing his hands through is messed up medium length of light brown hair. While doing so walked over dramatically stomping his feet to his bedroom's window to wind-up his blinds, this allowed a large amount of hot bright summer sunshine into his cozy room brightening his white walls. 

Adrian closed his eyes for a few seconds to recover from being blinded by the increased amount of light, "Geeze calm down sun."  

Adrian chuckled to himself rolling his eyes at his silly comment while going over to his decent sized tropical fish tank without noticing his desk's leather chair was sticking slightly out of place. 

This caused him to trip over one of the legs and fall painfully face first into the floorboards of his room with a bang. 

"OW! FAR OUT! Stupid crap!" 

 Adrian yelled into the floor to relieve the pain, "Of course, I fall... I always fall, can I ever do anything right?"  

Adrian questioned rolling over to face the ceiling lying flat on his back. 

"And so today begins..." Adrian mumbled in frustration, gritting his teeth and giving the ceiling a death glare. Slowly getting up he decided to look at his phone again turning on the Wi-Fi. Seconds later his room was filled with loud dings of notifications ranging from three main apps. Facebook, Snapchat and Discord.   
   
"Holy camolly, what did I miss now?" Adrian questioned out loud, raising an eyebrow while pressing the Discord app to say good morning to his online group of friends.   
   
Pressing the RandaPanduh group button, Adrian was shocked to see that he was tagged in over twelve messages in the general chat, all screaming in capitals, spam filled with silly emojis, memes and hashtags. 

 ** _6:00 AM_**  

"RandaPanduh: HAPPY BIRTHDAY BBCAKES!!! <3 HAVE AN AMAZING DAY! TALK SOON! ;3"

"QuirkyGamer: :D Happy 23rd Birthday Adrian! I wish u well! And that u have an amazing day today <3"   
   
"Kpuru: Happy Birthday BBCakes!!! Have an awesome day, @RandaPanduh told me to say you have a nice butt ;)."   
   
"RandaPanduh: Naa aaah @Kpuru!! You said that yourself ;)."   
   
"Isibeal Denravi (Sara): Happy Birthday Adrian! I wish you all the best today! I hope you get amazing gifts. @Kpuru totally likes your butt FYI." 

"Kpuru: Sara -.-"   
   
"RandaPanduh: He wants to SQUEEEEEEEZE DA BUTT CHEECKS ;)"   
   
"Kpuru: Sigh..."   
   
"ZeEvilOne" Lmao XD!    
Oh umm right, Happy birthday Aussie."   
   
"UmbreonDusk: Happy Birthday Adrian! Have a good one mate!"   
   
"QuirkyGamer: :3c"   
   
"Cheleth (Jared): Happy Birthday Adrian!!! Sending hugs ^_^/."   
   
"₍₍ (ง ˙ω˙)ว ⁾⁾ Lavbot: Well, well, well, look who's popular today..."   
   
"RanduhPanduh: Lav! Don’t be a butt. :3"   
   
"₍₍ (ง ˙ω˙)ว ⁾⁾ Lavbot: Fineeee, if I'm good, can I squeeze your butt?"   
   
"RanduhPanduh: ;) "   
   
"₍₍ (ง ˙ω˙)ว ⁾⁾ Lavbot: HAPPY BIRTHDAY ADRIAN! WE LOVE YOU <3!!!"   
   
"Kpuru: Really?"   
   
"₍₍ (ง ˙ω˙)ว ⁾⁾ Lavbot: What? I'm wishing Adrian a happy birthday!!! ;3"   
   
"JesstheMess: I WANT THE BOOTY TOO @RandahPanduh!! LAV GETS SO DO I! Happy birthday son of mine." 

 ** _9:00 AM_ **  

"K@0§(Liam): Oh, damn I missed all the convo... What's happening? OHHH! Happy Birthday, Adrian!"   
 

Adrian laughed out loud, a huge white gleaming grin appeared on his young handsome face, as his frustration with his horrible morning so far melted away in seconds.  _Sigh... these guys are the best._  Adrian decided to message them back in one go.   
   
"@everyone: Thanks so much for the amazing birthday wishes guys, u are all the best! My day has just begun, gonna go have some breakfast, ceya soon!    
   
PS: Let's hope it’s a good one! <3 Talk soon! Get ready for some Overwatch, because we are all about to slay! ;3" 

What Adrian didn't know was that his day was about to get much worse... 


	2. Birthday Confusion

 

**_Location: Melbourne, Australia, Earth – 23hours ago_ **

**_Time: 9:23 AM_ **

**_Date: 5th February 2019_ **

**_Music: (Song: We Found Love – Rihanna)_ **

A muffled loud tone of voice could be heard humming along to the radio in the bathroom if you were to place your ear on the smooth white modern wooden door at the end of the bright hallway.   

Steaming hot water gushed out of the perforated stainless-steel showerhead, coating Adrian's head of brown hair and body continuously. This allowed him to wash away all of his natural body oils he accumulated during his sleep. 

"Ahh..." 

Adrian sighed as he breathed out in a relaxed state.  _There is nothing better than a super-hot shower and a bar of soap to start your day._ Adrian thought, very carefree as the heat of the water melted away the tensions in his neck muscles. 

After standing still, eyes closed completely unaware of his surroundings in a zoned-out stance for a few minutes, Adrian decided to open his eyes and bend down grabbing his shampoo off the floor. While squeezing a good amount of 'Head & Shoulders 2in1 Deep Clean Anti-Dandruff Shampoo + Conditioner for Men' into his palm, Adrian dropped the bottle in surprise, eyes opening excitedly when a familiar tune started to play on the radio. 

"I LOVE THIS SONG!!!" 

Adrian screamed out loud to himself while lathering the shampoo in his hair getting ready to sing along while moving his body to the beat. 

 _"Yellow diamonds in the light..._     
"Now we're standing side by side..."    
"As your shadow crosses mine..."    
"What it takes to come alive...........!" 

 _"It's the way I'm feeling, I just can't deny..........!"_     
"But I've  _gotta let it go......"_  

 _"We found love in a hopeless place!"_     
"We found love in a hopeless place!"    
"We found love in a hopeless place!"    
"We found love in a hopeless  _place....!!!!"_  

From simple foot taps to butt shaking, Adrian was now fully dancing with every bone in his body, completely forgetting the fact that he is one of the biggest klutzes on earth.

 _"Shine a light through an open door!!"_     
"Love and  _life I will divide!"_     
"Turn _away 'cause I need you more!!"_     
"Feel the heartbeat in my  _mind........!"_  

 _"It's the way I'm feeling... I just can't deny......!"_     
"But I've  _gotta let it go..........OWWW!!!!!!"_  

While doing a dramatic spin, Adrian bashed his knee on the tiled surface on his right side losing his balance and collapsing onto the wet tiled floor of the shower. 

"Freaking hell, STUPID TILES!" 

Adrian yelled holding his right scraped red knee tightly to suppress the pain. After being sour for a few seconds, Adrian eventually got up slowly wincing, placing his hand on the nearest wall to balance himself. 

Adrian decided wiggling his leg to make sure it was alright was a smart thing to do, but was interrupted out of his thoughts. He frowned in concentration as he could hear a woman yelling through the bathroom door. 

"Adrian!? Are you nearly ready!? We are leaving in about two and a half hours, and your father still needs to shower!"  

"What!!? What did you say, mum!?" Adrian yelled back, confused,  _Leaving? Where to? And why was Dad home on a Tuesday?_  

"I'll talk to you once your presentable! Make it as quick as you can, and don't forget to pack and have breakfast!" Adrian's mum yelled back before disappearing.  

Adrian lifted his right dark eyebrow higher than the other in confusion,  _What the heck? … I don’t even know what to say._  

"What in the world...?" 

Adrian asked himself out loud while rinsing out the shampoo and adding another round of it onto his scalp. 

"I guess I'll just ask my mum once I'm ready... wait did she say, pack!? Pack for what, a holiday?" 

Now Adrian was really confused.  _Since when do we go on random holiday trips?_

"Ugh... this is giving me a headache, I'll just find out in a tad."  

Ten minutes later after body drying, hair drying and sculpting, face washing, shaving, and nail clipping. Adrian was finally ready to get out of the bathroom and find out what the heck was going on. 

Turning the radio off and picking up his wet towel and dirty pyjamas off the tiled light grey looking floorboards, Adrian exited the main bathroom quickly and walked towards the laundry on his left placing them into the wooden laundry basket.  What he didn't notice in his quick movements was that a door opened slowly nearby. 

"BOO!" 

"AHHHHH!" 

Adrian screamed and jumped, turning his neck too fast causing a serious whiplash and neck spasm. 

"What the hell Luke!?" 

Adrian screamed at his little brother rubbing his neck while giving a death glare.

"You don't freaking scare people at nine in the freaking morning! What's your deal, you could have given me a heart attack!?" Adrian was pissed. 

"HA! You were so scared, you should have seen the look on your ugly face."

Luke replied in an annoying know it all semi-aggressive voice. 

"Ugh... really? Throwing stupid remarks at me already? Why don't you just go read a dictionary and learn some new words, oh wait! You probably don’t even know how to use a book, do you?” 

Adrian replied in a snarky tone looking slightly upwards into his not so good-looking brother's face, crossing his arms to protect himself from the verbal attack. 

"Lol! What are you twelve? That was the gayest comeback of the century." Luke replied with a fake laugh holding his stomach in mockery. 

Adrian winced slightly hearing his own brother mention the word gay in a sentence, he really hated how others used it so easily to insult others or to use it as a way of complaining about something giving it a negative view. 

"Says you, who the heck says lol out loud?" Adrian replied smirking, head tilted slightly trying to recover from the last blow. 

Luke's face scrunched up angrily, turning red, "Why don't you shut your pathetic mouth and leave me alone!?" 

"You started this stupi -" 

"BOYS!! THAT IS ENOUGH!"  

Adrian and Luke both turned towards the entry of the Laundry eyes wide to see their mother Angela glaring at both of them arms crossed. "What is this? Why can't the both of you just get along?" She questioned in a sad almost pleading voice. 

Both Adrian and Luke stayed quiet. 

"This is ridiculous! The both of you are old enough to stop bickering all the time! Luke, I know you started this!" 

"I did not!" Luke growled. 

"YES! You did! I watched the whole thing from start to finish." She yelled. 

Luke paled his mouth forming an "o". 

"Out of all days to pick a childish fight with your big brother, why his birthday? We are meant to be celebrating it, together. As a family.  I don't want to hear any more arguments from the both of you for the rest of the day, and Luke, your father will be talking to you later about the vile language I heard during that argument... Now say sorry to your brother and go pack your suitcase."  She ordered. 

Luke rolled his eyes, slowly turning towards Adrian. "I'm sorry Adrian... for being mean... scaring you... saying the truth..." 

"LUKE! Okay, that's enough, go to your room and pack!" Angela yelled. 

"Ugh... whatever, save the favourite." Luke replied walking away in a tantrum. 

"Ehh..." Angela sighed closing her eyes and rubbing her forehead leaning on the door frame. 

 _Crap, this petty fighting is causing my mum serious stress, I should probably start ignoring Luke when he is like that... I am the older one after all... I need to be more responsible..._ Adrian thought. 

"I'm so sorry mum... I don't understand why he likes to keep starting these little petty fights? It's silly and quite annoying to be honest. I'll try my best to not aggravate him further from now on." 

Looking up from her stressed position, Angela looked angrily into Adrian’s eyes.

“Adrian, I’ve told you this again and again. Don’t aggravate your brother! He’s stressed enough as it is starting university for the first time. Yes, I know, he can be a bit to handle and get along with, but you need to try better than that! No more teasing, no more name calling, no more lectures and no more telling him what to do, alright? That is my job as his mother.”

Sighing loudly in frustration, Adrian replied back.   
   
"Mum, I understand that, but I was defending myself, I can't just sit and look pretty on the floor or where ever the heck I am and just allow him to treat me like that! For all we know, he treats others like that as well and I don’t want that kind of behaviour to be accepted. “

Shaking her head slightly, Angela replied with a sad smile on her sweet face.

"I know honey, he's going through a rough patch, most teenagers go through one at some point or another. You should remember you were a teen a few years ago yourself, anything can cause it, pet peeves, your surroundings, people, dislikes, even small little things. But at the end of the day, he is your brother, he's your blood and you will always look out for him even if he says some not so nice things to turn you away. He does not mean it, he just shows his love differently, maybe one day he will grow out of it." 

Angela says with a hopeful smile on her face. 

She decides to lean off the door frame and hug her oldest in a big motherly hug resting her head on his shoulders squeezing him tightly before kissing his cheek. 

"Happy twenty-third birthday my sweet, kind and handsome little munchkin," she says, her bright white smile illuminating her face making her look fifteen years younger. 

"I know mum, I'll try my best to stop falling into his traps and silly mockery, and thanks! I can't believe I'm twenty-three! Gosh, I feel so old, I can’t believe how fast time is flying by." 

Adrian replied laughing with a slight blush painted across his cheeks. 

"Adrian! You aren't old at all! Don’t be silly, you're just starting your adult life, you're going to have plenty adventures in your life that will lead you up and down, left and right, towards darkness and towards lightness. 

You will find love and create many friends. What's most important is to not think about later, but to think about now. Every moment you spend worrying about your future, you will just miss out on the special moments happening right in front of you. They can be as little as putting a smile on someone's face and making their day or saving someone's life.

I know for a fact that you care more about others than yourself, that’s a beautiful quality to have honey, but you must look after yourself as well from time to time. Now stop stressing, I can see it in your eyes. I know what Luke said got to you, yes you like 'Men' and 'Woman', he has no right to call you gay or any other vile slur to make you feel less of a person. 

Adrian, you are absolutely perfect the way you are, no one is alike, trust me when I say it's much better to be unique and odd than a brainwashed "cool" idiot who ruins happiness for others alright? I love you for who you are and that's all the matters okay?

Now you have plenty of years to go before you even reach my young age of 49," 

Angela replied with a joking smirk on her face. 

"Hardy har, very funny mum and thanks for the info," Adrian said rolling his eyes with a large smile on his handsome face walking out of the hallway feeling much better about himself than he had a few minutes ago. 

"Alright, alright, before you go make yourself some breakfast and vanish from existence, I need to tell you about what's happening today. So, as you now know, today is your birthday and your father and I decided as your now an adult, and you kind of have everything you need in life, we thought we could go on a little holiday together as a family and have some fun! We booked a little beach house at Lakes Entrance for three days." Angela replied quite excited. 

"No way!!! Mum that’s awesome! I've never got a trip as a birthday present before, Thank you!"  

Adrian jumped on the spot eyes shining brightly. 

"Please, that's such a nice gift already, that would have cost a lot. Okay, that’s enough free things for me today, anything else we do today and for the rest of the trip I'm paying for myself and that's final." 

Rolling her eyes, Angela replied with a bright smile.

"Honey don’t be silly, this whole trip is for you, we are your parents and we always will be, we want this holiday to be fun and stress-free, you're not to pay for anything, alright? Oh, I just remembered once we come back we will still have your birthday party on Saturday so make sure to send out invites to your friends.

Now, go make breakfast and pack your bag and suitcase! You won't need much as we will only be there from today until Friday evening. Also make sure to bring your camping gear too for tomorrow night, as we will have a little camping trip near the beach alright?" 

Angela said squeezing Adrian's shoulder, walking into the Laundry to do some last-minute laundry washing. 

Adrian smiled to himself shaking his head as he walked out of the Laundry, thinking. 

 _I can't believe I nearly forgot today was my birthday!_   _I'm such_  an idiot, I thought today was going to suck completely, but apparently, it decided to go from _meh to super awesome instead! I'm so excited to visit Lakes Entrance again, it's such_  a beautiful little _coastal town._  We haven't _been there since 2013... Woah, I would have been about eighteen... shit... time really does go by... I wish I had some magic so I could slow time down a tad... that would make things so much better._  

Adrian chuckled to himself, "Ziz Zang" "Slow down time!"  

Adrian wiggled his hands and swished his arms around his body making sounds when he saw Luke staring at him from his bedroom. 

Adrian froze in his ridiculous position eyes wide, blushing crimson with embarrassment. 

Before Luke could even make a comment, most likely a rude one, Adrian bolted to the kitchen like his life depended on it.  

Running out of the cramp bright hallway and leaning on the white wall nearby, Adrian placed his head in his hands in embarrassment, while he questioned himself. “Why do I always embarrass myself? I need to stop being so childish….” 

Sighing loudly and leaning off the wall, Adrian jumped slightly in shock when he felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. Pulling it out of his jeans, Adrian noticed there was a lot more messages on discord, smiling to himself, Adrian walked over to the kitchen and placed his smart phone on the kitchen bench.  _I_ _’l_ _l look at those after I make myself breakfast and a nice latte,_ Adrian thought. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for the Kudos, hits and bookmarks, everyone! It really means a lot to me, I hope you're enjoying my Story so far!  
> This is the updated version of chapter 2! I hope you like it :D
> 
> If you have any questions, requests, compliments, criticisms or just tips, I would love to hear them all, I love chatting and making new friends.
> 
> Have a great week everyone! ;P


	3. Political Templars

**_Location:_** ** _Sundermount_** ** _, Free Marches,_** ** _Thedas_** ** _-_** ** _12 Hour ago_**    
 ** _Time:_** ** _8:24 pm_**    
 ** _Date:_** ** _5th_** ** _Pluitanis_** ** _9:37 Dragon_**

 

* * *

 

 

 _‘It is a cold night tonight... the fire pit in camp should be enough to warm us all, even for a while... Hopefully, the Maker will look out for us during our time of need...’_  Cullen thought, rubbing his leather gloved hands together to relive his concern while walking uphill towards camp.

For the last month of Winter, it was quite unusually cold, especially for the Free Marches. This type of chilled frost was more common down South in Fereldan and parts of Orlais. This was a concern for Cullen, as a lot of citizens in these parts weren't used to the kind of conditions currently.

 _‘This type of frost could affect crops greatly, and that would cause a lot of other issues. On the other hand, there are a lot of_ _Fereldan's_ _now living in Kirkwall and its surrounding villages since they evacuated from the blight several years ago, they could help, but still, so many things could go wrong...’_  "Maker..." Cullen whispered to himself in pain as he could feel a headache forming above his right eye. Rubbing his forehead, he again, whispered to himself. "Thinking of these problems will not help me in this specific moment, I need to prepare for our next mage scouting tomorrow." Cullen sighed deeply in exhaustion while closing his eyes and taking in a deep breath, to calm himself. 

After a few minutes of peace and relaxing in the nostalgic frosty winds, Cullen went on, slowly waddling up the steep rocky cliff side. A few more minutes went by when the heavy armoured tired man finally reached the summit. Cullen smiled slightly, as he could see smoke ahead.

Finally reaching their decent camp after an extensive patrol across the frosted hills of Sundermount, scouting for apostates, and unnatural behaviours. Cullen was greeted by his armoured comrades surrounding a great fire. The warmth of the orange blaze was nearly enough to put Cullen's worry aside, he was glad the Maker had answered one of his thoughts, even if it was only for a moment.

"Knight-Captain!" 

"Sir!" 

"Captain!" 

His comrades saluted him with fake smiles on their faces before shuffling and clanking around the campfire as their armoured shoulders touched in a rush to allow him to join them.

Cullen was glad they thought about him, he knew they didn’t care for him, not in a friendly way, or a caring way, no one ever really did anymore. It was only due to a respect of his high position in the Templar ranks, most were scared of him. Sadly, this was the only kind of connection he had to friendly communication and normality these days. Well... not all of it was friendly... there was still Hawke and his annoyingly hyper. childish, headache bunch of inducing companions.

Cullen secretly wished for more, he would do anything to have a friend, an actual friend, a real one... someone you can trust with your life, your secrets, talk about anything at any time of the day from all kinds of foods to the stars in the cosmos... someone you can hug when everything seems hopeless... ‘ _I haven't had a hug in years..._  Cullen thought sadly.’

The rest of the Templars looked at each other quickly in confusion, before looking back at the Knight-Captain with pale faces.

Cullen didn't understand why the Maker wouldn't allow him just one friend... did he do something wrong? Did he not try hard enough? Was he not being the best Templar he could be? Not the best man he could be? He followed everything, absolutely every rule and law in all the books... He prayed whenever he had free time... He did everything he could think of to please the Maker and the Maker's wife and still, he was not allowed a friend. Maybe he was just meant to be alone.

 _‘Is that my path?’_ Cullen thought darkly of Kinloch Hold, his last memory of his only friends were their screams of bloody terror... before they were murdered in front of him.

"Mages..." Cullen whispered angrily through his gritting white teeth, frowning at the fire. “It's always their fault, it always came down to mages...”

"Ahh... Cap..tain... you alright?" One of the men asked coughing looking quite terrified.

Cullen was taken out of his dark depressing thoughts, his usual warm honey brown eyes, now dark brown, filled with a chilled anger grew wide before a slight flustered blush formed on his high boned cheeks. ‘ _Makers breath... was I really just standing there staring at them all for... who knows how_ _long?’_ Cullen thought.

"YES! I'm fine! I just had some... thoughts of my next approach for tomorrows dawn... scouting... apologies, have a good rest, I'll check on you all in the morning!" Cullen replied in a rush, his voice cracking in a growl. Quickly turning around, Cullen walked to his tent as fast as he could.

"We are doomed..." 

"Don't be stupid!" 

"What do you mean don't be stupid! The Knight-Captain... did you see his face! He looked very angry!" 

"Ugh..." 

"What happened? Did he get attacked by an abomination? An apostate? A knife-ear, maybe a savage Dalish!? Men don't blank out like that unless they have seen something dark and absolutely world-changing... or... maybe he just had the best sex of his-" 

"MEN! ENOUGH!!"

All five of the large armoured gossiping men turned to look at their only female comrade Marlene standing firm and proud exiting her tent with shocked faces.

Marlene glared at them all, her dark green eyes piercing them all before she started to encircle them with a slow walk around the campfire.

"How old are you men? ANSWER ME!" Marlene growled.

Stefan jumped to his feet, raising one dark eyebrow over the other smirking placing a very seductive look on his handsome tanned face. "My lady Marlene... I'm old enough for you to play with my large sword whenever you want." He replied huskily, winking at her.

Stefan didn't even get to hear her reply as a second later he was knocked out cold on the ground.

Marlene cracked her knuckles looking at the others frowning, "I hope that's enough of a demonstration for you... childish, vile, disgusting, horny, idiots! The Knight-Captain is under a lot of stress and does not need this idiotic shit!"

"Now, I've been hearing interesting rumours spreading not only around you lot and the younger Templar soldiers but in Kirkwall also. Knight-Commander Meredith's views are quite wrong when it comes to magic and mages in general and I don't need you lot spreading that vile shit around too. Not everything you hear from an elder or leader is correct!" "We-"

Marlene was rudely interrupted by Danial.

"Please Marlene, that's enough! We don't need you to go all soft and pathetic on us, Meredith is our commander she receives private information from higher positions! We have no idea what in Maker's name goes on in the Circle of Magi or with the mages themselves, we don’t talk to them for a reason! If there is one thing I know, never trust a piglet, they were made to serve man for a reason and if Meredith says we should lock down on the robed blood savages, then I say it's about bloody time!" Daniel sneered with an annoying smile, a smile you only see when an idiot believes he's right and no one else deserves an opinion.

Marlene went pale, completely in shock her mouth opened, but no words fell out. ‘ _How... what... what is happening?’_  Marlene thought.

"We... WE! are the Templar Order! We are the Chantry's knights! We are here to bring peace to Thedas! We were officially deemed a force of defenders by the Chantry to protect the communities of the faithful from magical threats. Our main role is to watch mages in our circles and eradicate abominations from causing destruction and harming ordinary citizens, that is it! Mages are people like the rest of us! The only difference is they have a gift from the Maker to serve us, help us, heal us! Not this other complete shit Meredith is spitting out! YOU FIVE BETTER GET YOU’RE ARSES IN GEAR AND DO YOUR JOB! if you even try and flirt your way with me again ill run you with my sword!!"

Marlene ended her speech red-faced storming back into her tent.

Daniel laughed darkly looking at the others, "What a nosey bitch, she thinks she can control and threaten us!? If she starts bitching and talks about our commander like that again, I'll do a lot worse than 'run you with my sword'. Danial mimics Marlene's last words making his tone of voice more feminine.

Adam was shocked over all the fighting and possible violence. "Maybe she is right Danial? We are the Templar Order, we can't just do what Merideth wants us to do, it sounds quite dark and un-Andrastian..."

Daniel frowned "Great... another mage sympathiser, are you men turning into precious robed piglet huggers? What will Meredith think when she finds her men going, SOFT! This is absolutely pathetic! The Maker wants us to follow his words! That's final!”

 

* * *

 

Cullen could hear all the commotion outside his tent while taking off his heavy amour. He was quite shocked by hearing so much anger and violence among his own men, some of the things they said... he had heard some of these rumours before leaving Kirkwall. He knew Meredith quite well, she was his commander, still, even he questioned some of the things that fell out of her grotesque mouth.

Cullen decided he would have a word with Danial and Marlene in the morning, he just did not have the energy tonight.

Sighing again, Cullen closed his eyes and laid down onto his, quite smelly if he was to say so himself, bedroll. "Maker's breath, why am I so tired today?" Cullen asked himself in confusion while massaging his own neck and upper chest. His large cold callused hands moved across his warm light blond hairy chest, brushing his right nipple, causing a shock of pleasure to travel right down to his groin.

Cullen gasped in surprise, his honey brown eyes opening wide, as he blushed red in embarrassment. "Maker's Breath!" He whispered loudly into the air. Staring at the roof of his tent for a few moments in contemplation Cullen decided to try it again to see if that was a onetime occurrence. "OH!" He shivered in shock. ‘ _Why in_ _Thedas_ _does that feel so good?’_  Cullen thought to himself.

Cullen could not believe it, two touches to his cold perky nipple, not only caused him to turn into a loud whimpering fool, but there was now a hot throbbing noticeable tent in his breaches...

 _‘No... this is inappropriate! I should have better control, I will not play with myself when I have more important things to worry about!’_  He yelled in his mind. But his hands had other ideas...

They travelled down his chiselled hairy chest, running across his toned stomach and were under his breaches touching his hot throbbing erection before he even finished telling himself off. "Fuck..." Cullen whined arching his back, closing his eyes in pleasure.

"Knight-Captain?" You in there? Adam asked knocking on one of the tents wooden posts.

Cullen made a high pitch yelp as his eyes bulged open in shock, jumping up as fast as he could, he quickly placed a light shirt on, and a thick woollen blanket around his waist. "Yes... Ah, yes Knight-Lieutenant come in."

Adam entered the warm bright tent, his eyes landed on his red-faced Knight-Captain sitting on the ground tightly holding a blanket around himself. "Ser Rutherford! … are you alright? You look, ah, a bit red Ser..." Adam asked.

Cullen coughed rubbing his neck, "No... no, I'm fine! Just, I just had a not so nice dream, and it made me... ah, angry is all. What can I do for you, Lieutenant?"

"Well... I saw your face at camp, Ser, I know that is a face of a lonely man, I wanted to know if... well if I could help you?" Adam asked kindly.

Cullen stared at Lieutenant Adam, eyes wide in complete shock. ‘ _No... he, he can't be asking what I think he's asking.’_  Cullen thought. "WHAT!? No, I mean wait, what?” He blushed, as he smacked his hands over his mouth. ‘ _Oh, maker why...’_

Adam laughed loudly holding his stomach, "You're not my ah... type Captain... that is not what I was asking you. I did not realise you were into men?" Adam questioned in surprise.

Cullen was too flustered, he could feel sweat running down his forehead "I do... no WAIT! I did not agree with that! I never said that I... ah, like men in that way, not that I ah, never tried... THAT is not the point! I've only had a couple of crushes on women and... can we please speak of something else..."

Adam smiled. "No problem Captain, many men and woman get curious. Anyways, sorry for sounding quite ah, horny, I did word my words in a... ah, quite a dirty manner, let me try again?"

Lieutenant Adam sat down in front of Cullen before proceeding with the conversation. "Yesterday evening while scouting near the bottom of the mountain. I ah, found this small Dalish tribe. Now I was quite nervous and embarrassingly scared Ser! You know what stories there are about these savage Knife-Ears! It was my first time seeing so many free elves Ser! Some of the women are quite exotic..." Adam coughed slightly blushing. "Yeah-ah! So, they spotted me, Ser! I thought I was a going to get kidnapped or turned into a soup or maybe a frog! But this beautiful woman... forgot her name... she was their leader..."

Cullen interrupted Adam frowning. "Lieutenant either get on with what you wanted to tell me, or leave, I need my rest."

"Right! Sorry, Ser! Alright, so... their leader or a Keeper they called her, she is a powerful mage, she can actually, find you ah... they called it 'Saron Lath' in common that means something on the lines of 'Together, as one Love' or Soul Mate. Isn't that great! She can help you find the person you're meant to be with, your best friend! You will never be lonely again." Adam smiled brightly.

"I... I know who my Saron Lath is... It's Marlene... They showed me her. I don’t know how to tell her... she was really pissed tonight. Ser, I really wanted to punch Stefan for what he said to her and then Danial... but she beat me to it. I've always had a crush on her... but I guess this is it! The real deal!"

Cullen was shocked, not only did his Templar Lieutenant find Dalish elves, he trusted them and in return for not ordering their mages to come to Kirkwall's Circle, they gave him the gift of finding his... ah, Soul Mate?

"Adam there is no such magic like that! It is obviously a trick! Was it blood magic? Did they harm you?"

"No Ser, well... you have to place a little bit of your blood onto a dish... BUT! It was not blood magic! I swear, I saw it with my own eyes... I, ah... well... it could have been blood magic... but that’s not the point! They need the blood to see who you're connected to. They treated me nicely enough, I said I would leave them alone as a thank you. Anyways I think it's true, and if you're as lonely as you think you are, go down the mountain tomorrow and ask for this Soul Mate spell... or whatever it is. I truly think it is real Ser."

“Makers breath Adam! They could have killed you, possessed you or worse! What were you thinking!? Allowing mages to use blood magic on you!? What kind of Templar are y-” Cullen was quickly interrupted out of his lecture as Adam got up quickly.

"Night Captain, I hope the Maker is with you!" Adam quickly replied back as he ran out of the tent.

Sighing... Cullen replied back, "Night Lieutenant, and with you..." Cullen watched the dark-haired man vanish from his sight.

 _Well... at least my erection is gone._  Cullen thought rubbing his neck.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks, everyone for the Kuddos!!! It means a lot :D
> 
> This is my first time writing Cullen! I hope I did okay, I truly tried my best here. I decided to make him exactly how I saw him through Dragon Age 2. Tired, lonely, angry but still slightly bashful. 
> 
> If you see any mistakes or any ways I can change my story for the better please comment me some criticisms! 
> 
> Sorry for being away for so long, I went back to University so balancing life is tough af, but I'm slowly, getting these updates done! :D
> 
> I hope you have all enjoyed the re-word of the past chapters!   
> This chapter was previously called "Templars"!


	4. "ANDRASTE'S KNICKERS!"

**_Location:  Lakes Entrance, Australia, Earth – One hour ago_ **

****

**_Time: 7:45 AM_ **

****

**_Date: 6th February 2019_ **

* * *

 

Complete darkness turned into a slight blurry dim light, as Adrian slowly awoke from his deep restful sleep.

Rubbing his sleep away from his blue-grey eyes, squinting and yawning as quietly as possible. Adrian slowly but surely took in his new surroundings while getting out of his cool silky soft captivating bed. 

The cool white beachy bedroom was just starting to receive early natural light from the morning sunrise. It's warm summer rays slightly peeking over the horizon of the sparkling ocean in the distance, glistening through the large extravagant glass panel windows.

A calm salty breeze travelled through the open window into the room, ventilating the temperature and fluttering the white see-through mesh curtains in a soft hypnotising but calming motion.  

Placing his geeky dark grey matt glasses onto his face. Adrian smiled brightly taking in the breath-taking view while walking over and leaning on the wooden window seal.  _It was stunning_ , Adrian thought to himself. 

There were no clouds in sight, the sky was painted in bright gradient pastel of oranges, reds, purples, and a perfect baby blue. The smooth white sand on the beach span hundreds of meters across to his left and right as far as his eyes could see. 

Seagal's could be heard fluttering in the distance making a loud racket.  _Most likely trying to steal someone's breakfast._  Adrian thought while chuckling. 

The green vegetation of the garden and the surrounding hills created an amazing natural saturation, making the blue ocean pop in spectacular inviting colours. 

Tourists and the citizens of the little bustling coastal town could be seen sunbaking and fishing on the beach and its rickety wooden pier, others jogging along the concrete paths leading back into town and others were safety swimming in-between the red and yellow flags.

Adrian rested his chin into his smooth small palm taking in the peaceful view.  _What a perfect morning to wake up to, I really need to go for a swim later... let's see if I can get Luke into the water, maybe I'll throw him in._ While thinking mischievously to himself and slightly daydreaming about ruining his brother's day, a beautiful aroma of roasted coffee from the nearby café floated through the air. 

Adrian sniffed in the coffee aroma closing his eyes in peace.

"That smells so good! Definitely getting a large Latte with my breakfast in a bit!" Adrian said happily. 

"Now... where did I put my phone... and my wallet?" Adrian questioned rubbing his head hoping the answer would come to him. 

Leaning off the window seal, he decided to check the nearby bedside table. Pulling open the draw, "Nothing... of course nothing..." He then decided to check the large cabinet with an outstanding mirror which was triple his size.

"Empty... what the hell? Did I not place my stuff in here yesterday?" He questioned crossing his arms with an unnatural deep frown placed on his forehead.  

Adrian was known as the type of person who was always bubbly, kind and happy even when hiding his own emotions from the rest of the world, for most of the time. But every person has a pet peeve and weakness which turns them into someone else entirely, even for a few moments throughout each day. 

For Adrian it was a limited amount of issues, that included; forgetting all kinds information, knowledge, memories, being treated like a child as he was quite short for a man his age at 5'2' (156cm tall), being made fun of or controlled, being forced beliefs he did not believe in, unkind unequal nature and idiotic people.  

Most people that know Adrian would have been shocked to have seen the grumpy look placed on his face at this moment in time. Sadly, Adrian did not realise that his emotions were always expressed through his shiny blue-grey eyes, even when he tried not to express anything. 

"This is absolutely ridiculous, where did I put my luggage?" Adrian sighed to himself in complete disarray.

While Adrian was talking grumpily to himself looking through the empty cabinet hoping his things would magically appear, he nearly missed the muffled vibrating sound nearby. Turning faster than he should have, holding his neck in pain he walked over towards the muffled sound. 

"Ow... okay... note to self, next time, don't be such a spaz…" 

Standing in the middle of the mostly empty bedroom spinning around, Adrian lifted a dark eyebrow in confusion.  _Well, my phone must be under something as it sounded really muffled, it's either under my bed sheets? Or a pillow? But I never put my phone in those places..._ Adrian's thoughts were cut as his brain finally decided to wake up.

 _"_ OH! I'm such an idiot."

He facepalmed himself, walking over to the dark navy-blue shorts that he wore yesterday, which were roughly placed on a chair near the room's doors. Right there, inside each deep pocket laid his phone and wallet.  

"Well hello helpful minions, it's time for you both to return to your master," Adrian said in an odd accent he made up on the spot.

Adrian rolled his eyes at his childish comment while he drew his oddly shaped password onto his mobile phones screen with his finger. The dark screen lit up in seconds replacing the Earth wallpaper with colourful little apps and other important notifications. '7:50 am' was glowing white in the top right corner as well as twelve messages from Discord and three from Facebook Messenger.

"Ugh... what have I missed now...” Adrian said while glancing at the last fey notifications with bleary eyes, it read.

 

**_7:20 AM_ **

“Randapanduh: @T0mmes14 Helloooooooo… BBcakes, Aussie FBI man, wakey wakey, get yo older booty out of bed! We have so much to talk abouttttttttt today!!!”

“QuirkyGamer: *Squeals* Yesss! We have a surprise for u! (Cute happy emoji).”  
  
"Kpuru: Guys shhhh!!!!!!"   
  
“QuirkyGamer: ;3c”

“Randapanduh: WHO ARE U TELLING TO SHHHH!?!?! SEAN!!??? I will not massage your back today!”  
  
"Kpuru: … “

“Randapanduh: Love you!!! (Sassy Randa Emote).

Adrian rolled his eyes in amusement with a smile warming his face. _I swear these guys are the best, they always know when and how to make me feel better… I should quickly respond._ Adrian quickly typed away his morning response.

“T0mmes14: Hey guys! Good morning XD! I will talk to u guys soon! I’m really excited to hear what y’all have to say :3c lol.”

“I'll check back after my shower, now what's the weather today?" Adrian said to himself pressing the app of a bright yellow sun with the title 'Weather'. 

A few seconds later the weather for the day and the next ten days were shown on the screen. Adrian's eyes widened in shock when he saw the number '15' degrees Celsius was displayed with clouds and possible rain. 

 _How the heck is today so cold when yesterday was '34' and sunny? What kind of summer day is this?_ Adrian questioned in shock while turning his head to look outside.

"It does not look cloudy and freaking cold to me... well that's Melbourne for you, four seasons in one day and all that... Anyways, I bet it will change in a couple of hours."

Adrian sighed. "Well at least I love the cold, hopefully, I bought some winter clothes with me..." 

Adrian closed the weather app and placed his mobile phone and wallet down onto the white wooden bedside table, glancing at the '45%' battery notification on his phone. He decided to plug in his charger to let it fully charge while he had a shower and got ready for the day. 

Opening the extravagant double doors leading out of the bedroom and into the main hallway, Adrian decided to check the main living areas to see if anyone else was awake.  

"Woah, I'll never get used to this place, it's so extra and out there," Adrian said quietly to himself in awe, as his eyes scanned the beautiful minimal interior design of the place as he walked into the open living area.

The bulky light wooden beams holding the open ceiling made the room feel double the size as it angled to a singular triangular point. Large glass skylights above allowed the morning sun to pass into the living room, encasing it in a bright light as it brightened the white walls making them pop. 

The large glass sliding doors to the alfresco and backyard were fully open allowing the large room to breathe. "Who left those open?" Adrian asked himself worried, "I guess someone is awake then, no need to panic." 

Calming down and turning around Adrian took in the rest of the open living area. The green plants in the corners and the light wooden modern kitchen all mixed into the design so well, it was perfectly rustic with a hint of modern industrial interior design.

Adrian really loved the black hanging light bulbs above the dining table and the quartz stone kitchen bench, it made everything feel connected in a way, it was hard to explain. 

 _Dang... I could so live here, it's so beautiful and modern... but nothing beats our home back in West Melbourne._ Adrian thought to himself as he heard the jingle of metal keys and the front door squeaking opening.

Turning his head towards the large dark wooden front door, he spotted his Dad holding bags of groceries and his light golden Cavoodle dog Boris entering the holiday house.  _Looks like my Dad already took Boris for his morning walk... and he got us COFFEE!! YES!_  

"Morning Dad! Hey Boris! Who's a good boy! Who's a cute little butt, butt?"

Adrian cooed in a cute baby voice crouching down with his arms out wide as Boris ran towards him at full speed. His paws and claws tapping on the wooden floorboards making an adorable tap, tap sound, he waged his bushy golden tail in excitement while his long light cream ears flapped in the air.

The second he reached Adrian he jumped right into his arms licking his face. "Aww... who is my puppy? Who is it? You are! Okay! Okay! That's enough making out for the day!" Adrian laughed placing Boris down patting and rubbing him all over. 

"Morning buddy! I got you a large Latte and Nutella doughnut for breakfast from that nearby Café, I hope that's alright? I placed it on the Kitchen bench, eat it whenever you're ready!” 

Fabio said aloud inside the kitchen's walk-in pantry placing some essential daily food items inside.

"Thanks, dad! I'll eat it after my morning shower! Also, today's gonna be weirdly cold so there's no point going for a swim at the beach today!"

Adrian replied while Standing back up, watching Boris walk into the hallway.  _He's probably going to the laundry to eat his breakfast and have a drink of water._  Adrian decided to continue his quest to find his missing luggage. 

 _So, if it's not in my room... it must either be in a closet, another room or maybe I forgot it in the car?_ He thought to himself walking towards the pantry, leaning on the door's wooden frame. "Hey Dad question, do you know where my luggage is? For some weird reason, I can't find it."  

Fabio placed the last food item from the shopping bag he was holding onto the shelf, thinking for a moment before turning around to face his son. "I believe I saw some luggage still in the back of the car when I went to get breakfast, why don’t you go check it out? Here are the keys." He said simply, chucking the car keys over to Adrian out of nowhere. Adrian slightly frowns nearly dropping the keys clumsily in shock and replies. "Sweet, thanks for the help."    
  
“No problem! While you’re out there, can you make sure we left nothing else in the car?” Fabio replied.

Walking away from the kitchen and into the impressive entry hallway of the holiday home, Adrian rolled his eyes as he looked down into his hands, searching for the right key.

 _Of course, all the keys look the same, what kind of house owner does this to their clients anyways?_ Adrian thought annoyed. _Pshhh, you can do this! Just pick one!_ Adrian inner head voice replied.

Hoping for the best, he inserted the first key of his choice into the lock of the door and turned it to the left. With luck on his side, the lock clicked, and the door was now accessible for his use.

Adrian sighed, calming down as he reached the parked family car which was located on the driveway, as he let the front door close behind him. "Hopefully this concludes my mini mission." He said to himself in a sassy tone pressing the butte button on the car keys.  

Watching the boot door slowly rise with his arms crossed, Adrian's face lit up in surprise as his black luggage bag and backpack was right there, hidden under the large pile of colourful beach towels.

"Huh? Well, there you are, time to take you back inside!"

Placing the backpack on his back and pulling out his heavy luggage bag and the rest of the beach towels, Adrian decided he would place these in the living room while he got ready for the day.

Closing the boot and locking the car, Adrian walked back inside the holiday house with his luggage in a much better mood than he did a moment ago. 

 

* * *

 

 **_Location:_ ** **_Sundermount, Free Marches, Thedas – Forty minutes ago_ **

****

**_Time: 8:05 AM_ **

****

**_Date:_** ** _6th Pluitanis 9:37 Dragon_**   

* * *

 

Knight-Captain Cullen Stanton Rutherford had already been stressfully wide awake for roughly around three hours now. Rapidly preparing, planning and finalising reports in a swift manner, for the scheduled morning scout across the bottom of Sundermount’s mountains. They had to be fully complete, signed and sent back to Kirkwall before the rest of his men woke up from their well-deserved rest. 

 _They are due to wake in about an hour's time._ Cullen thought as his fogged breath left his mouth as he looked towards the blue morning sky. Doing so, he faced north and looked slightly east to see the sun's position. Without Kirkwall's bells, this was the only way to tell the time of day in the wilderness.  _Eight in the morning, the rest should be waking up soon._  

Cullen sighed deeply as he finished signing the last lengthy dull report. Rubbing the back of his neck while looking at each tent cautiously as the voices and thoughts in his mind went to war again for the ninth time this morning.

_Makers breathe, should I go find that Elf village before they wake? I'm allowed to be curious, can't I not?_

_Knight-Lieutenant Adam was quite convinced that this... magical spell could cease my predicament. But this could be dangerous, a trap! He did mention blood magic! These abominations must be stopped!_

_I know better than this! Don’t trust any mage, they are all skiving scum looking for a way to hurt me... and others… with their blood magic._

_That is not entirely true... But Meredith does make solid arguments!_

_I can be better... Meredith could be right?!... I really shouldn't think like this... maybe this is why I’m lonely?..._

_The Maker clearly wants... needs me to be alone in my life... but I don't want to be alone, I've done nothing WRONG!_

"WHY?! -" Cullen yells before slapping his hands over his mouth in shock. 

Slightly pale in fright, rubbing his brown leather gloved hands in concern, Cullen listens to hear any movement inside the camp as he quickly tried to think of an excuse for yelling out loud. 

Luckily for him, all he could hear was the soft breeze in the frosty winter air, rustling through the trees nearby. 

"Nothing... thank Andraste," Cullen whispers to himself letting go of a deep exhale he hadn't realised he was holding.  

After twitching in his spot for a few moments, he lost the battle, finally deciding to follow his curiosity. Cullen slowly got up from his crouched position at the warm campfire, looking around the campsite one last time while slightly adjusting his belt. 

 _This is fine, there is no need to panic, I shall just tip my toe into this, that’s all._ Cullen thought while grabbing his sword and shield from the wooden rack at the entry of the camp.  

Walking down the steep hills of Sundermount took its time and was tricky as the grass was heavily frosted from the cold, but Cullen was a stubborn man, once he had a perfect idea or want, he would fight for it any way possible, and right now, all he could think about was finding out about this mystical, possible corrupt knowledge.

"There is absolutely no way this  _'soul magic'_ is real, it just can't be... why would the Maker allow this?" Cullen asked himself as he finally reached the edge of the forest at the bottom of the mountain.

Pulling out a scroll from his belt, Cullen looked at the map of the surrounding area to study its geological features, this would help pinpoint an ideal village location. 

 _The Elves must be near the edge of this thick vegetation, they wouldn't have built a village too deep inside the forest, as there is no water supply, the only water supply noted is noted beside the river here at the edge of the forest. Lieutenant Adam also found them quite easily yesterday, so it must be nearby..._  

Rolling the map quickly and placing it back onto his belt, Cullen continued South-West into the forest. A few bushes, shrubs, two slight slips and a twig stab to his cheek later, Cullen found what appeared to be a broken arrow snapped in half on the forests soggy muddy ground. 

Raising his blond eyebrow in suspicion while bending down and picking it up with his large goofy hands. Cullen looked at it closely with his warm honey brown eyes, he noticed Dalish markings burnt along its wooden side.

"I must be getting close," Cullen said out loud running his gloved finger across the black symbol before snapping his head to the right as he heard a loud crunch. 

With his shiny sword slashing out towering and gleaming in his right hand and large metal shield with the Templar Order emblem in his left, Cullen's view was filled with twelve elf archers pointing their bows and arrows straight towards him, muttering in what had to be in elven and common tongue.

“Fenedhis lasa! Another Shem!” A tall, skinny elven man whispered to the others, in confusion.

"Who is that?" A beautiful elven woman with spectacular blue eyes whispered back.

"Another Templar shemlem... they always bring danger, we must warn the village." The tall elven man replied in a frightened tone.

“He’s a bit cute, for a shemlem, maybe we can bribe him.” Another elven woman whispered into her friend’s pointy ear, trying to hide her blushing face. As her friend giggled and blushed with her.

“Creators!” “By the lost Dales!” The group of elves mumbled and cursed out loud in shock staring at Maranni with bulging eyes and open mouths.

“Maranni! What’s next!?” An older elven woman walked up to Maranni yelling into her face. “Will we find you sucking Shemcocks?! Dirthara-ma…”

 _Makers breath…_ Cullen blushed in embarrassment.

“Bleeding Thorns!” “Creators!” The elves cursed out loud again.

“Why are we talking about this nonsense!?” An elf with black hair roared with a booming voice.

The group of elves paled and slightly shrunk in their positions as what seemed to be the head archer in command yelled at his group.

“Garas quenathra? Why are you here Templar Shem!? Do you promise not to harm us, nor take our people?"  

 _Finally, I need to be careful about this, these elven arches could be hiding mages and blood users._ Cullen thought to himself slightly stressed.

"Ah..." Cullen coughed to clear his throat. "Yes, I promise not to hurt any of you or take your mages back with me for now, if you promise to talk to me in fluent common and if I may ask a question?" Cullen asked slightly lowering his weapons.

The elves whispered in a tight group for a moment before turning back towards him. A taller blond elf with very pointy ears replied harshly. 

"Fine Shem, we will agree, for now, don't pull any tricks, or we will kill you. Now… what is it you wish to know?" 

Cullen slightly stumbled backwards giving himself distance before carefully replying.

"I've ah... been told one of my men found your village yesterday noon and I wanted to know if what he expressed was actually possible. Can you truly predict someone's ah... what was it called? Sar... ah, Saron Lath, True love? I don't believe it, I want proof!" Cullen asked rubbing his neck with a slight blush on his cheeks.  _Makers Breath, I need to be less needy, that sounded too harsh._  

"Wait, that's all you want? You want to be matched with your Saron Lath?" Maranni replied in a confused tone, still slightly red-faced.

“Well… ahh...”

While Cullen thought of a reasonable nifty response to the question he lamely already stuttered an answer to, a deep silky voice appeared out of nowhere, right behind Cullen making him jump, yell in fright and turn around swiftly to protect himself. 

"If that is truly what you wish for Knight-Captain Rutherford, the Keeper and I shall help you, but once the ritual is complete you must promise to leave me and this…’spectacular’ dalish village and never return."

A mysterious bald elf man in a dark cloak standing proudly with his wooden staff replied with a smirk. 

Cullen frowned as his eyes grew dark with anger, giving the elven man a death glare before yelling.

"What is the meaning of this!? How do you know my name apostate!? I never introduced myself!?"

"My, my that temper of yours won't help you, Cullen, I'm only here to help you find, as you would say, your 'True Love,' and for your name? Let's just agree your name proceeds you." The cloaked elf annoyingly smirked while moving his hand in a shoo motion.

The group of dozen elves swiftly moved back in fright, while others reached for their bows, creating a rapid defence barrier of organized arrows ready to hit their target.

“What are you doing here, Dread Wolf!? You have no business here. Leave our forest and our village alone from your dreadful corruption!” Their leader yelled in a tone of hate and distrust.

The bald elf smirked darkly before responding very calmly. “If that is what you wish for, then so be it. Don’t ask for my help when I achieve my goals. I highly suggest you all scuttle back to your… ‘decent’ settlement and leave me and the Knight-Captain alone.”

Before Cullen could ask anything else, they all vanished through the green foliage in fright, the sounds of fast footsteps fading away in panic was the last thing Cullen ever heard from that group of elves. 

Looking around nervously Cullen didn't know what to do.  _Oh Maker, why did I come here... there is no point backing out now! I need to know this, I want to know. If this is dangerous or if I see anything suspicious I'll report back to Meredith and we can send a group to capture these corrupt mages-._

Cullen jumped as his thoughts were interrupted when he felt smooth fingers slightly trace his neck, forgetting he was not unaccompanied.

"My, your quite jumpy Knight-Captain of Kirkwall, I must say I do enjoy seeing shems jump in fright, but I expected you to be more, put together." The cloaked elf laughed at his own dark insulting joke. 

"Do you now? I wouldn't talk like that if I was you, you have no idea what I'm capable of." Cullen threatened back, using his deep aggressive captain voice."

“Now, now no need to get violent, we already discussed your temper did we not? You shems definitely still need some lessons in that field of learning." The elf replied sassily swaying his hips as he walked away from Cullen.  

Cullen following the elf, and cautiously asked, "So, who are you exactly? The other elves must distrust and fear you greatly to give you a final warning before running off like children.”

The cloaked elf slightly stopped before continuing, "Well aren’t you a curious one? All I shall say to keep you slightly interested in this. I'm a powerful mage or an apostate as you would call it, far too strong for you to capture. I enjoy studying the fade, and I use the knowledge I gain from the fade to protect my kind and its culture... well, what's left of it, sadly they have become barbaric and lost, like that idiotic group we just met. Besides that, you're not important enough to know any further details of my private life. I hope that answered your question? Oh, and If you wanted to know my name, as I said, you're not important enough to know that either." 

Cullen's frown deepened. "Well aren’t you just a pleasant mage, if that's the way it will be, I'll just refer to you as 'Cloaked Elf'."

The cloaked elf laughed, "I quite enjoy that, makes me sound mysterious does it not?" 

 _Andraste preserve me... this man is either insane or in love with himself._ Cullen sighed closing his eyes while rubbing his forehead. 

After what felt like an eternity of awkward silence but was only around about ten minutes of walking. Cullen and the mysterious cloaked elf man reached a monumental ancient looking stone door, it was completely covered in vines and other forest matter, it seemed to be neatly tucked away on the side of the mountain, which Cullen guessed would enter some kind of cave structure.

"Now this door will lead us into a very old sacred temple by the name Dhru'an or Lath, or as you would say 'Church of Love', it was once used by the ancient elven god's thousands of years ago to help the Elven people find their Soul Mates. I saw the way you mentioned the topic before like this was a tale for children, something not true. Believe me when I say this. What I'm about to do for you is very real and very hard to accomplish, you’re a very lucky man Knight-Captain. It's not every day someone finds out who they belong with let alone a human." The elf said dryly. 

Before Cullen could even reply, the cloaked elf slit the palm of his hand coating the massive door with his blood shouting words which had to be some kind of spell or enchantment.

"Creators hartha ma' av, lath is needed, lath is unnuvena, I mar halani, ar'an dy combine ta hearts, tath sa!"  

Just like magic, the ancient hidden doors creaked into life, opening sluggishly with a loud creaking and irregular unpleasing sound of scratching. As the large stone doors rubbed against more stones on the ground, from what Cullen to tell, it seemed to lead into a dark temple inside the mountain.

Cullen stood still, his face pale and slightly sweaty with his mouth open and eyes bulging, seeing so much blood magic reminded him of darker times at Kinloch Hold. 

_Why did Adam not mention any of this!? This is ridiculous, I should capture this apostate let alone a blood mage! He is dangerous and blood magic, even more so!_

"I know what you're thinking Captain, trust me when I say, this is just a powerful blood lock, nothing more nothing less. You truly need to read about Blood Magic, it's not all cut and dry as you would predict, your views are sadly quite barbaric." The elf suggested in a know it all tone. 

Cullen growled as his eyes darkened, "Don't play with me, slimy blood elf! I know what blood magic can do, I've seen and experienced the darkness it possesses, nothing good ever comes out of it!"

The bald elf stared at Cullen in surprise before nodding his head slightly in what Cullen thought was approval.

"There is nothing wrong with having different views and opinions in a healthy debate Knight-Captain Rutherford. I just hope your mind is open enough to receive and take in other views before being unfairly rash. I have the feeling you can be, but it seems your blinded by fear, sadly I must say fear is only as deep as the mind allows. Fears are cultivated into us, and can if we wish, be educated out. You just need time and positivity in your life and I believe what the Keeper and I are about to do for you, shall bring lightness and happiness into your life."

The cloaked elf replied smiling kindly before facing away, walking into the temple. 

Cullen again, stood still, shocked.  _Maker, this elf does have his way with words, maybe he's right? Maybe I need to change my perspective? He could be tricking me, I need to be on alert, but... I shall give this a go... did he just say, Keeper? Why would the Keeper from that elf village be here?_

Cullen took in a deep breath and straightened his back before following the elf into the dark temple. 

Squinting his eyes from the shift of light, Cullen took in his new surroundings. The large temple was even bigger than he imagined. It was shaped in what appeared to be a large circle, it's large stone pillars were holding the ceiling of the cavern which went up so high, the darkness of the temple hid the tops of them. The dramatic yet slightly pleasing statues and painted arts littered nearly every stone wall Cullen laid his eyes upon, they were very exotic, and they seemed to be telling a story.

The largest ancient mural was located on the left side of the temple, it was mainly painted in a dark red with a mix of oranges, browns and blacks. There was a dark, large, burnt tree which was surrounded by fire.

An elf in robes? Just about under the tree held their left hand in front of them, he or she seemed to be performing a spell as they faced an enormous unusual circle. The elf’s magic was a bright white, but their face was dark and sinister like. Under them, lying dead or fainted was another individual, their magic or spirit was being absorbed and used by the robed elf.

 _Is that elf using that dead person’s magic? Is that even possible? Why would they need someone else’s magic, why not ask for help? Why use it by force? I could be reading this wrong…_ Cullen thought while he observed.

The unusual, oddly placed circle, with other little half circles and odd details, surrounded an even more unusual object, it was creepy, very dark. It seemed to meld the remains of a few people embedded in the rock, it glowed an odd red, Cullen didn’t know why this made him feel uneasy, but it just did.

To the right of this, was an even darker figure, a giant three-eyed wolf which seemed to flow like water. It hovered over most of the right side of the mural, it seemed to be taking over the scene.

Giving up while shaking his head, Cullen’s attention was stolen by the amazing architecture surrounding him. If he wasn't so distracted by the monumental temple itself, he may have paid more attention to that very important mural.

 _Andraste... this place is outstanding if what this elf says is true... this place is very old, I should probably watch where I'm walking..._  

"There is no need to panic Knight-Captain Rutherford, the ancient elven magic in this place has been holding the structure for thousands of years and will do so, for thousands more."

The elf replied walking ahead hips swaying towards the centre of the circular Temple.

"Makers breath! How... how did you know I was thinking about that?" Cullen said in a concerned tone placing his hand on the hilt of his sword. 

"No need to fret Knight-Captain, I just have a way of reading people's thoughts... now... here we are!"

The cloaked elf stated loudly as his voice echoed throughout the cold, dark freezing cavern his hands facing outwards. As he did so, a loud whoosh and aftershock of powerful magic rippled from the centre of the temple expanding outward, lighting every single dead torch aflame. The warmth and brightness shocked Cullen as he took out his sword in an automatic defence.  

"ANDRASTE'S KNICKERS! Warn a man next time!" Cullen screamed, his sword shaking slightly in his right-hand eyes wide. The elf chuckled.

"I have to say, I heard you Templars were rather jittery but that I was not expecting, I am quite sorry that I scared you. I hope you will accept my apology?"  

Cullen frowned at the elf's fake sweet tone of voice.

"Yes well, I shall this time, but I promise you this! You pull a stunt like that again or use any more blood magic and I shall end your life, I won’t allow any more blood magic to corrupt others throughout the Makers lands!"

The elf frowned turning away from Cullen "If that's all, I would like to get this over and done with, you have wasted more than enough of my time than necessary..." 

Cullen growled deeply annoyed, gritting his teeth together, he wanted to punch this stubborn idiot, but this idiot was going to help him, so Cullen decided it would probably be best to stay quiet and breathe deep breaths to calm down instead.

"Ah... Andaran atish’an Keeper Nelora."

The elf spoke towards the entrance of the temple. Turning around to look at the entrance, Cullen nearly did a double take, his eyes landed on one of the most beautiful elven women he’d ever seen in his short twenty-seven years.

She dressed in thick druffelo furs. Her very light blond wavy hair wrapped into a loose messy bun with pieces falling out slightly framing her small, slim face. Her deep green eyes shined brightly with kindness, while her exotic green markings on her face made her smooth pale skin look white as snow. Her large staff which looked like a tree in Cullen's mind was so much bigger than her, Cullen could not understand how she carried it. 

 _How in the Makers name does she lift that? She's so petite... and small... I wonder what it would be like to... Maker, I should not think like that..._ Cullen slightly blushed slightly glazing his eyes in another direction while rubbing his neck.

"Garas quenathra… Dread Wolf." She answered back harshly, before looking at Cullen.

"I've been told by my fellow hunters you wish to be matched Knight-Captain of Kirkwall? Is that correct? I must ask Dread Wolf, why do we continue to match these shemlem when they never seem to believe us after the ritual? It seems like a waste of time and the gift of our gods being used for nothing but curiosity..." 

"Well to be fair Nelora, since the humans and other races are so afraid of magic they fail to see the good it can do, such as this... Knight-Captain I do hope you will use this special gift to its full potential. As I said before, we don't allow many this chance, as it takes a lot of magic and concentration to accomplish.”

“Now before we begin, I must tell you, this ritual will show you, people whose souls align with yours, this is not a simple crush or love. A Saron Lath is someone who is aligned with your soul and is sent to challenge it, awaken and stir different parts of you in order for your soul to transcend to a higher level of consciousness and awareness. They will be a best friend, but more. It's the one person in the entire cosmos that knows you better than anyone else. It's someone who makes you a better person and-"

The cloaked elf was rudely interrupted. 

"Wait! I thought this showed you 'the' person, not multiple? What is the point of that?"

Cullen asked annoyed and confused. The elves sighed in unison...

"Knight-Captain, it's not that simple, some people only have one, others have more than one, it counts on who you are... Who they are, where they are from, where you are and when you shall meet each other in time. Sadly, this ritual also comes with a price... it will also show you your 'Saron Banal'… or your 'Together, as one nothing' this person is also a 'Soul Mate' but they will lead you down a dark path, a path into non-existence, to your doom... the worst part, we can't tell you which person it might be." 

Nelora replied quickly, looking down twirling her hands nervously. 

Cullen crossed his armoured arms frowning. 

"Maker's Breath...So, let me understand this correctly, this... ancient 'godly' ritual could show me multiple people whose souls match mine? But in doing so, it won't tell me who I should choose as they all could be the ah... perfect one for me? But it will also show me someone who could end my life? Did I understand correctly? Cause that sounds completely absurd."  

"That is very close to being correct Knight-Captain, it's nice to see a shem quickly catch-on, there are a few more details here and there, but nothing more that will concern you for now. Now would you please stand in-between the two circles drawn on the stone floor and place your dominant hand over the metal dish?"

The blond Keeper asked sweetly.

"Oh, as we will need some of your blood to place on this dish here, it will be best if you could take off your glove."

She continued pointing towards a large reflective dish laying in the centre of the two circles.

"That's… fine, as long as this does not hurt me or anyone else, I won’t say a word and I'll do what you ask… only this once," Cullen replied taking off his glove as he positioned his large hand above the dish. 

"This... may sting a little..." The keeper whispered into Cullen's ear as he closed his eyes.  _What did I get myself into now?_  

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! and anyone new, welcome :)  
> I just wanted to say thanks so much for the 150+ Hits like that's insane, let alone the 10 Kudos! That means so much to me you have no idea.
> 
> Also thanks for the 2 comments The_Man_Called_Madara! They still make me chuckle haha!
> 
> This is the biggest chapter I've produced yet! I was actually going to make it longer, then I thought, should I split this into two chapters? Then I decided to just post this! This legit took me three days to set out, write, edit, re-edit and triple grammar check. I hope it makes sense and it flows well. if anyone has any criticisms or spots anything wrong please let me know! 
> 
> In this chapter Cullen meets someone I bet you weren't expecting ;)
> 
> (In my defence this is slightly AU / my own take / my own universe)
> 
> Enjoy and have an awesome day! :D


	5. Earth

**_Location:_ ** **_Sundermount, Free Marches, Thedas – Fifteen minutes ago_ **

**_Time: 8:30 AM_ **

**_Date:_** ** _6th Pluitanis 9:37 Dragon_**   

 

 **"This... may sting a little..." The keeper whispered into Cullen's ear as he closed his eyes.**   ** _What did I get myself into now?_   ** 

 

Before Cullen could even think of anything else, he winced, grinding his teeth to suppress the sharp pain running through his entire body. Fogged breath escaped rapidly out of his nostrils, as his right palm was deeply sliced with a sharp dagger.

Opening one eye to look at the situation occurring before him. Cullen watched Keeper Nelora as she gently bent down to allow a few drops of his rich dark red blood to trickle off her elven metal dagger and onto the ancient stone dish, before turning her attention back to him.

She lightly placed her small delicate hand under his.  

 _Maker, her hands are so soft and cool to the touch,_ Cullen thought before going rigid. Her cool touch turned suffocatingly hot, a heat he and every other member of the Templar Order knew very well.

This nauseating warmth always had a slight tingle, a certain vibration which caused the lyrium in his and every other Templar's body to ignite in various sensations. The more you felt the lyrium inside your blood react to surrounding magic, the greater the possibility the mage casting it, is more powerful than other magical users. Thus, making them not only more dangerous to society than other mages but to themselves also.  

Cullen panicked, quickly pulling his bleeding hand away from hers harshly while stumbling backwards, going pale. Nelora looked at him as she cocked her head, confusion written across her face trying to pinpoint his odd reaction. 

"I was just healing the cut, Knight-Captain, I'm sure you don't want a permanent scar there, let alone poison?"

"NO!" He screamed in terror.

"No? So, you do want me... to... ah... heal it for you?" She replied in a confused tone slightly scared from his outburst.

"I SAID NO! NO MAGIC! LEAVE ME ALONE!" Cullen yelled back trembling sounding slightly mad. 

Nelora jumped in her spot while hastily walking backwards, eyes wide, going pale herself.

"I... I don't understand, you wanted us to do this?!" She screamed back, terrified as she watched the big, tall deranged Templar pull out his sword wildly. 

"Knight-Captain that's enough!" The cloaked elf yelled, raising his left hand outwards facing Cullen. A powerful bright green light scattered throughout the temple, calming Cullen completely as he dropped his sword from the impact of the spell. 

The deafening awkward silence surrounding them was shattered as a clanking metal sound of Cullen's sword hitting the ancient stone floor of the temple echoed thought-out it.  

Cullen shook his head violently trying to remove the dark images from his thoughts and groaned as he harshly rubbed his palms over his eyes, covering half his face in blood while doing so. 

"Makers Breath... I'm so sorry, I... I don't know what happened, I... I felt your magic it was too hot, I saw my blood and I panicked, I saw abominations and blood magic and there were people screaming for their lives... I... I let my guard down, that won't happen again, you have my word." Cullen whispered breathlessly.

"How... did you calm me down?" He questioned slowly in a raspy voice, filled with pain. 

"That was the Dread Wolf's doing, he used a calming spell, I'm very glad that worked... You must have gone through some very dark times Knight-Captain for a simple healing spell to invoke that reaction out of you... Please from now on, it might be a good idea to warn a mage from using magic on or around you before they try? Just a thought." Nelora suggested cautiously with her hands over her chest recovering from the scare. 

"Yes, that might be ah... A good idea, again please accept my apology, that was careless and unwise of me... please continue." Cullen said sadly as his voice cracked with emotion, looking towards the ground in shame. 

 _I must get these dark thoughts out of my head, Maker... they are getting worse. I hoped the transfer to Kirkwall would have helped by now, it's been years since Kinloch Hold ... just about seven to be precise... I'm weak... a failure... I don't deserve this..._  

Cullen was taken out of his depressed state when a cool hand squeezed his unarmoured arm, looking up quickly, his gloomy honey amber eyes met kind emerald.

"It's okay to show your emotions from time to time Knight-Captain, sometimes hiding dark thoughts from our pasts keep us there, trapped, lost... alone... whenever you find the courage to let it out, it will do you more good than harm." 

Frowning, Cullen shoved her small hand off his arm. 

"You have no idea what I went through mage, it's because of your magical _“gifts”_ I'm in this mess. Don't tell me how to recover from my problems, I'll figure it out on my own with the Maker on my side!" he snapped angrily. 

Nelora frowned back glaring into Cullen's eyes crossing her arms.

"Well, if that's how you want to be shem, I wish you luck and I hope your precious  _"Maker"_ gives you the strength you don't seem to have." She snapped back.

Cullen's face turned red with rage. "How dare you mock me and the Maker, he! -"

"THAT IS ENOUGH! SATHAN DIANA MIN!" The cloaked elf roared, causing the old temple to shake slightly. Both Cullen and Keeper Nelora turned to face him in shock.

"Knight-Captain you are wasting my time! Either be quiet and let us begin the ritual or leave us, I've been patient for long enough!" The elf growled. 

Cullen slightly paled rubbing his hands together to calm himself down, wincing as his rough leather glove on his left hand rubbed against the large cut on his right palm.  _I almost forgot why I was here, the mysterious bald elf is right, let's get this over with._

"Your correct cloaked elf, I've wasted enough of your time, both of you... ah... do you have any spare healing potions on you and a thick cloth? If it's not any trouble I could really use some for my hand..." Cullen asked carefully trying to ease the awkward tension between himself and the two elven apostates in front of him. 

The keeper dramatically rolled her emerald eyes sighing as she opened her brown leather druffelo pouch on her belt. Little clicks and taps of glass trinkets touching each other could be heard as she roughly searched through it.

After a few moments, Cullen's gaze watched her left hand rise out of the pouch, gripping onto three potions in distinctive dark green glass bottles and a dark cloth. Two looked the same, the liquid red in colour while the third looked a bit brown and lumpy. 

"Here," she said with no emotion, quickly forcing the items into Cullen's large hands. "Drink one red health potion now and the other in an hour. Oh, before drinking the health potion, rub this on your cut, it’s brown herbal elf root serum, it will sterilize the cut from poison. All of that should heal your cut, seal the bleeding and stop anything from going wrong, including taints." 

"Thank you, I shall do that right now as I seem to be making a bloody mess," Cullen replied with a slight smile and a nod. 

Nelora quickly nodded back emotionless before twisting her small petite elven body away from his tall large human one, facing the opposite direction. Cullen watched her as she walked towards what appeared to be three giant elven statues facing each other in unusual poses.  

The first one on the left was an elven woman, her delicate hands spread apart and wide as she seemed to be performing some kind of spell, she was covered in a flowing stone cloak with an intricate vine pattern along the trimmings.

The second one on the right was an elven man aiming his bow and arrow high above his head, towards the sky or in this case the rocky ceiling of the cavern. 

The third one, shorter than the rest, was placed in-between the others. It's beautifully carved stone represented the shape of a large majestic wolf with creepily radiant green eyes. 

 _They all must represent some type of gods of theirs, probably the ones that help with this "ritual"._ Cullen thought with slight interest, focusing his gaze on the mysterious carved statues. Cullen's amber gaze kept drifting towards the wolf statue as he stared sharply at it with distaste. 

 _That wolf looking one looks suspicious, its eyes look like they are staring into mine, why would a wolf represent a god? That's just daft._ Cullen thought snappishly completely oblivious to the dark death-glare he was receiving from the cloaked elf. 

Sighing to himself, looking down, Cullen noticed a lot of his blood on the cobblestone floor surrounding the area he was stagnant on. 

"Shit... I'm bleeding all over the place," he whispered to himself, deciding to grab the 'Elf Root' serum from his left hand.

Grabbing the bottle tightly with his blood-soaked right hand was not a good idea, it slipped right out of his grip, heading right for the ground a few steps away.

In a panic, Cullen swiftly soared forward while rapidly rolling frontward on the ground, he snatched the bottle with his left hand just in time, as he landed on his stomach with a loud metallic thump.

Cullen sighed in relief as his fast Templar reflexes allowed him to catch the bottle without losing any of its contents. Looking upwards, all he saw was two elves staring back in disbelief.

“Knight-Captain… what just occurred? I turned away from you for no less than a few seconds and then I see you rolling on the ground… are you sure you’re fine?” Nelora asked with a large too polite smile.

Cullen slightly blushed while giving her a death-glare. “Don’t… just don’t even ask me any more questions elf… just do what you have to do…”

Getting up from his embarrassing position, Cullen finally could prepare his wound. Rubbing the odd lumpy brown textured Elf Roof serum, which kind of smelled like rotten dirt, into his large bleeding wound. Cullen winced as the serum reacted with his cut, frothing into a white foam substance. 

 _I hope that's meant to happen?..._ He questioned himself slightly panicked, lifting his head to ask about it, but he heard more elven speech causing him to completely forget his question. 

Keeper Nelora was kneeling in between the three giant statues in what seemed to be a prayer position with her hands held out exactly like the ancient elven woman statue. The cloaked elf was sitting cross-legged in front of the large stone dish with his back facing Cullen. 

"Creators, sathan hartha em, sathan hartha em Ar'an ane min or amahn today to vena undefined lath min shemlem is missing, to ghi'la ghi'lan him to isa Saron Lath. Cullen Stanton Rutherford Is missing isa sal', ar'an nadas must inevitable vena isa sal!" 

Nelora yelled her last word, as it echoed throughout the large temple as her hands glowed a bright pink. The cloaked elf seemed to glow green.  _Most likely doing something with my blood on that dish,_ Cullen thought with distaste. 

Cullen had no idea what was going to occur as no one told him the process beforehand, so he braced himself, as any Templar would around unpredictable magic. Clenching his jaw and squeezing his hands into tight fists, Cullen thought hard as he brought forth a silence ability from deep within just in case things went badly wrong. 

A few awkward moments passed and still, nothing "magical" seemed to have occurred, raising a blond eyebrow in puzzlement Cullen decided to remove the silence in his fists and ask what was going on. 

"Is this meant to take so long?" He heard the cloaked elf sigh in an annoyed tone.

"No, Knight-Captain this is quite unexpected, this can indicate many types of situations or problems, but I have a few ideas. The first is that your blood here is filled with lyrium which could be dampening the spell. Two, your soul mate or mates could be quite far away from our location which is most likely what's occurring. Third, which I don't believe would occur to you but is a sad existence for a minimal number of others, you don't have any soul mates." 

Cullen went pale in shock, eyes wide, "No... no soul mate? Is that truly a possibility? What happens to those poor people?" Cullen questioned trying not to sound too concerned.

"Well, as we told you already, a saron lath is someone who's soul matches yours but also reflects the opposite of it as well. It's someone who will complete you and make you a better person. But not everyone can be matched because some people don’t need a soul mate, or, in other terms, no one can make them a better person as they themselves can do that without the presence of someone else. It's also fine, look how many people have found love throughout the centuries here on Thedas without the help of this ritual, they can live happily with whoever they choose to be with. This ritual just helps you find the perfect person, that will give you the most beautiful rare love found throughout the cosmos it-"  

The cloaked elf was interrupted out of his large lecture as Keeper Nelora screamed in pain, Cullen and the cloaked elf turned their heads rapidly facing her startled. Her palms now glowing a dark magenta while her emerald green eyes now glowed completely white. "I'm fine! It's working! I see them! I see your saron lath's Knight-Captain!" 

Cullen let out a deep breath in shock and surprisingly relief. "You do? Truly? I actually have people out there who could love me?" He asked slightly nervous and bashful. 

_I don't believe this after everything I've done, been through... do I truly deserve this gift? Maybe the Maker finally heard my prayer? I can't be too gullible, this could be a trap... be prepared._

"Yes, Knight-Captain I see them, and of course they will love you as much as you will love them, it goes both ways don't forget that," Nelora replied, her voice weirdly more mystical and light than it was before. 

"Would you like me to show you what I see? In doing so, it will allow me to conserve my magic to find out where they are and when you might meet them." 

Cullen cocked his head and frowned, "Wait, you can see the future now? You can tell me when I'll meet them? that's impossible!" Cullen said angrily, "This better not be some kind of trap, or I will end you, mage!" 

"This is not some kind of trap shem! I'm putting myself in danger of possession with all this magic I'm pouring out for you! So, stop complaining and sit in front of me and look into my eyes before I lose them!" 

Nelora commanded back in annoyance. Cullen sighed loudly, after a moment of internal battles, he walked over towards her cautiously, before plopping himself in front of her.

Landing on his knees, Cullen looked into her eyes nervously.  _It's one thing to stare into someone's eyes... but to stare into complete white glowing ones... I don't like this, maybe-_ Cullen thoughts were interrupted when he felt hot tingling hands grab his. Everything flashed a powerful bright white. 

* * *

 

Cullen had no time to react to the magic let alone his new surroundings, one second, he was staring into Neloma's weird eyes the next he was...

"Where... am I?" He questioned looking around the small cosy room littered with large books. 

"Don't be frightened," Neloma said softly, Cullen jumped hearing the Keeper's voice in his head.

"Andraste's Knickers! Why is your voice in my head, where are we?" Cullen jumped in fright while yelling questions out loud. He frowned angrily hearing laughter in his head which he knew was definitely not his own conscious.  

"Simply put, I've allowed your mind to mend with my own Knight-Captain, allowing you to see what I see, in doing so, we have swapped positions. I'm now in your mind, while I focus my magic on figuring out the other important juicy details." Nelora replied suggestively. 

Cullen had the feeling if he were to see her little face right at this moment he would have seen her wiggle her eyebrows. Rolling his eyes and getting up from his kneeled position, Cullen took in more of the room he found himself in. 

The room itself was very cosy, the candles scattered throughout the room were casting it in warm orange undertones. The dark wooden floor and the furniture seemed like standard sturdy oak and the books littered throughout the room and large bookshelves were all healing and magic based. The four windows covered with dark blue curtains were very small, shaped in elongated thin arches, built into the stone walls. 

Walking over to one of the windows and lifting a curtain, Cullen looked out to see if he could pinpoint his new location. He could make out that they were quite high and near the coast, as the beautiful blue ocean roared below, besides that nothing else stood out.

"I believe we are in a Circle Tower Knight-Captain, yes... this is the Circle Tower of Ostwick in the Free Marches east of Kirkwall," Nelora stated, making Cullen slightly jump again. 

"Makers breath woman! Warn me when you're going to speak, would you? This is very... bizarre..." Cullen asked Nelora.

"Oh, and how would you like me to do that shem? Wave my hands, do a little dance, in case you have forgotten, I'm in your head while you're in mine-"

"Shhh!" Nelora was rudely interrupted as Cullen shushed her.

"Oh, you did not just-"

"SHHH! Someone is coming!" Cullen whispered panicking looking around the room for a place to hide. His gaze landed on the small oak desk to his left, quickly running towards it, he decided ducking under the desk would be a good idea.

"What in the Creators names are you doing shem!? No one can see or hear you! You're in my head remember!?" Nelora yelled in confusion.

Cullen trying to squeeze under the small oak desk and failing miserably blushed crimson, "Oh... right... ah...well...I thought I would have a nice rest… under this desk... that’s all…"  

Crawling backwards, Cullen noticed a very miniature copy of the elven wolf statue from the ancient temple, hiding behind the oak desk's wooden leg. Its eyes glowing the exact same green as the cloaked mage's Aurora... raising an eyebrow in curiosity, Cullen stretched his arm to grab it when the room's door busted open and closed with a loud slam. 

"UGH!? What is with that man honestly!? I swear all Templars are dumb horny idiots with grabby hands!" A very beautiful young fair-skinned woman, wearing a bright blue cloak with her dark brunette hair roughly tied into a messy ponytail yelled into her hands before falling onto her bed screaming into her fluffy pillow.

Cullen still on all fours and red in the face stared as his amber eyes bulged and his dry lips opened not only in shock but in surprise at the beautiful sight before him.  

 _Maker... who is that...?_ Cullen thought to himself frozen on the floor.

"Well maybe if you got off the floor and stopped drooling like a "horny idiot with grabby hands" I would tell you?" Nelora replied in a dry unamused tone.

Blushing even more, Cullen quickly stood up holding onto the desk for support. "There... happy?"

"Yes... now, I believe this is Quinn Trevelyan the youngest daughter of the noble House Trevelyan of Ostwick. A title she seems to not enjoy as her family banished her to the Circle years ago as a child when her magic manifested. She is your salon lath if you wanted to know." 

"She... she is my soul mate!? A beautiful woman like her a...a... mage... the Maker must hate me..." Cullen signed placing his head into his hands. 

Nelora chuckled before replying. "Well you know what they say, opposites attract and all that crap, it seems like your  _"Maker"_  believes a mage will do you some good, maybe it could change that horrible Templar mindset of yours?"

Frowning, Cullen replied. "No, I must follow my orders, the chantry teaches us that mages must be kept in Circles, it's the only we can contro- I mean look after them, protect them from our society and from themselves. Mages never realise how dangerous they are... it might be best if I and this Quinn Trevelyan never meet... I would hate to ruin her life." Cullen heard Nelora sigh in his head. 

"Really Knight-Captain!? and how would you do that exactly? She's already in a Circle, her life is already ruined, your chantry and Maker don't seem to understand that mages are people too who deserve so much more than to grow up all alone and die in a prison masked as a school of magical learnings... Anyway... you won't meet her for several more years... I... I see her charging up the snowy mountains near the Village of Haven in Fereldan. She's with a group of companions... I see a dwarf with a sense of humour, a stubborn woman bearing the emblem of the Seekers of Truth and… no... it can’t be? The dread wolf himself? Why is he there...? I see Lady Trevelyan saving your life with a magical barrier from a horde of demons... so many... demons... the sky!? Oh, the sky is green, ruined! Ripped apart! Lady Trevelyan is the key! The end is coming! The end of Thedas! Red crystals litter the land! I see a... light? A light mage? Death... so much death! I... I can't see anymore... that's it... everything went... dark..."  

The keeper ended the prophecy as her voice cracked with emotion. "I... usually I don't see that much Knight-Captain... but to see so much death and destruction... something bad is coming, I've never seen so much... darkness in a love vision before..."  

Cullen felt nauseous as he gripped the corner of the oak desk slightly shaking.

"Maker... that was not what I was expecting... so, I'll... what. meet her in a few years from now in Fereldan? While the world is falling apart? Great... wonderful, that's wonderful... fantastic... I have plenty of questions but... I think it would be best if we just leave... I don’t want to hear any more of this... apocalyptic future... Andraste preserve me," Cullen sighed rubbing his forehead. 

Nelora replied quietly, "Yes... I agree shem, knowing more of this future in detail could make it worse, you could choose the wrong path... but we can't go back to the temple just yet..."

Cullen frowned, "Why not? I think I've seen enough, I feel rude just creeping around this woman's dormitory like a, what did she say, a "grabby horny Templar?"  

Nelora snorted, "Yes exactly that, you should have seen the look on your face when you saw her! Now, we can't go back just yet as you still have one more person to see."

Cullen blushed again before responding in shock. "WHAT!? Do I have another soul mate? Maker, I can't take this... this is ridiculous... I-" Cullen was cut off when everything flashed a blinding white again. 

Lifting the pillow off her face, Quinn frowned, leaning off her bed as her eyes adjusted to the brightness of the room. Looking around her bedroom in confusion, she asked out loud, "Is someone there?"  _I could have sworn I saw a bright light... oh well._ She sighed laying back down, closing her eyes wishing for a better future for herself and the other mages throughout Thedas. 

"I- don't think I should-" Cullen stopped talking in shock, taking in the new environment he found himself in. Cullen could not believe what he was seeing, "Makers breath... where are we? I've never seen anything like this..." He said in awe.  

Every wall he could see was white, a beautiful clean bright smooth white. The ceiling was very high, held by impressive strong wooden beams forming a triangle in the centre of it. Giant glass panel windows were scattered on nearly every external wall he looked at, this also included the ceiling. There were even doors made from glass, so large and clean.

The smell of the salty ocean was carried into the large extravagant room as the cool breeze blew through the open doors causing the soft white curtains to flutter softly in movement. 

There was so much to take in, nearly every single item and article of furniture his amber gaze landed on was different from what he was used to. A few items were only different in the slightest ways, from odd colours and unseen materials but most of the others were dramatically different including odd items Cullen had never seen in his life.  

The large talking magical portrait placed on the wall behind him intrigued Cullen the most.  _What in the Makers name is that?_ Cullen thought to himself frowning, leaning towards it in disbelief. 

"It seems like a gorgeous summer's day today here in Melbourne Melissa, how's the rest of the week looking?" A man said out loud in odd clothing and an accent Cullen had never heard before.

"Well most of Victoria seems to be right about average James, some coastal towns on the east coast will experience some odd cooler weather today, some are even calling it a winters day! Luckily that won't last long! The rest of the week should be bright, sunny and above 30 degrees." A beautiful blond woman replied wearing the most make-up Cullen had ever seen on anybody.

"That’s bloody fantastic Melissa! You heard that folks! The next few days are perfect for barbequing, having a swim and enjoying the sun! Don't forget to slip slop slap that sunscreen on! Have a good morning Melbourne!" The man said very happily almost overly excited. 

"Up next! We find out if this new Instagram trend truly helps you lose the flab. A heatwave is on its way! What can you do to help? Another world government meeting goes sour, and! Watch these two adorable kangaroos hop through the city right after the break!"

Another voice with no person on the magic portrait talked showing all kinds of moving images and colours before music and other sounds were displayed.  

"Maker... what is all this?" Cullen questioned out loud in confusion as a large golden 'M' was shown with yellow sticks in some kind of red box and an odd piece of bread with meat and other ingredients were displayed.

Shaking his head, giving up on the magical portrait, Cullen turned around and cautiously walked towards the other side of the large room where he could smell something delicious being made.

There was a bench covered in a beautiful stone with hanging glowing glass balls above it hanging from the ceiling, the wall behind that was covered in outstanding large cupboards.

This room was even more impressive than the last, it was bright, shiny, and unlike anything, Cullen had ever seen. 

Turning his head towards the left wall, a metal pot seemed to be cooking on dark glass producing a flame. "What in Thedas is that? How is there a small flame on the glass on top of this bench? Nelora are you there? You have been very quiet." Cullen asked becoming slightly nervous.

"Yes, I'm here Knight-Captain... I'm just as baffled as you, I've never seen anything like this... it's so... foreign..."Nelora replied weakly.

Cullen was about to reply but was cut off when he heard a pleasant voice nearby with that same weird accent and odd speech. 

"Yes, mum... don't worry I'm looking after the sauce, it has an hour left before it's done. Of course, I won’t burn it! I've cooked this recipe so much its now an automatic skill burned into my skull, its fine!... Ha-ha... very funny, yeah, yeah... okay, okay. You three have fun at the beach okay? I'll look after the house. Mum, it's fine! I'm now twenty-three! No need to panic! Did you guys take Boris's doggy bag? Okay good, see ya guys later, alright? Bye, bye." 

A short, young, handsome, adorable man wearing only a white towel around his hips, placed a weird dark mirrored object from his right hand onto the white stone bench.  

Cullen, stagnant to the ground, stared in a complete hazed trance, his lips forming a slight smile to right as he leaned on the stone bench. He'd never seen anyone, let alone a man look this adorable in his entire life.

"Andraste... preserve me," he whispered breathlessly.

While completely in a salivating daze, Cullen had no time to react, going rigid in shock, breathing in deeply for a few seconds trying to calm himself down as the young nearly completely naked man walked right towards and through him.

This caused Cullen to blush crimson and sweat from head to toe from the proximity, as he forgot no one could see him.   

"Isn't he adorable, handsome, oh! You find him sexy, don't you? Is it the height difference, his young complexion, maybe his soft small body? Meet your other saron lath Knight-Captain! Adrian Cocorocchio." Nelora said happily in a suggestive tone.

Cullen paled before exploding, "WHAT!? My... another Soulmate? He... he... he's a man... I don't... I've never...he's so young, he, he..."

"Calm down shem, there is nothing wrong with falling in love with another who also has the same gender as your own. While you think about that, your thumping heart, glazed eyes, dirty thoughts and slightly erect penis says otherwise." Nelora stated bluntly.  

Cullen's eyes bulged, and his mouth fell ajar as he reacted to Nelora's quite shocking statement. "MY WHAT!?" He yelled quickly looking at his crotch, turning red yet again in embarrassment. 

 _Makers breath! Will you please go down... there is nothing to get eager about!_ Cullen thought to himself quite mortified, placing his hands over his eyes.

"Pleading with your... well... private parts is not going to change the fact that you actually find this man attractive Knight-Captain and hiding is not going to help either!" Nelora stated angrily.  

Taking in a deep breath to calm his quite pathetic reaction, Cullen could not help himself but take a quick sneaky glance. Peeking through the gap between his large fingers, he stared down at the young man before him, ogling over his quite delicate but masculine features. 

 _Andraste... how can a man be so... short... so fragile, but be so... beautiful and strong at the same time?_  

Cullen's thoughts were slightly warped as his gaze turned dark with desire as he became fixated on a water droplet, that travelled downward from the young man's not fully dried light brown hair. It slowly trickled down his smooth neck which curved at the edge of his masculine squared shoulders, dripping down his smooth back, right down his curved spine and under the towel around his slender waist. 

"Maker..." Cullen breathed out harshly, biting his lip as he walked closer towards the unexpecting oblivious man. His large coleus hands close enough to rip the darn towel off his small body.

_No… No this is wrong! I should not be staring at this man like this! He deserves respect and privacy!_

While battling with his thoughts, the tip of Cullen’s finger accidentally brushed against the young man’s back. This caused an unexpected reaction which shocked Nelora and Cullen himself.

Moving back quickly to the other side of what Cullen decided was the Kitchen of this place, he watched the younger man turn around quickly in shock catching his towel before it fell off his body.

"What the hell was that!?... I must be tripping out..." The shorter man with stunning blue-grey eyes stated out loud readjusting his towel before speed walking away from the kitchen in fright into the hallway.  

Cullen shook his head violently as he leaned against the wall, cutting off his thoughts completely, going pale. "No! No, I do not like men! This is ludicrous! Nelora stop this at once we need to leave this ridiculous place!" Cullen yelled. 

Nelora mentally rolled her eyes sighing, "Really? Knight-Captain, you drooled more over him than Quinn. Stop denying yourself from being you! There is nothing wrong about this at all, he's your soul mate, you're meant to be together if you wish to be! Also, don't forget, this also makes you his soul mate as well, it goes both ways! That would be denying him a chance at pure love! Don't be selfish!" Nelora yelled back before stating the obvious.

"Now to the more pressing issue... he felt you, he actually felt you touch him! That should be impossible! Unless he? No that can’t be possible..." Nelora whispered to herself in a slightly panicked tone.  

Ignoring the elf completely, Cullen slowly walked over towards the room with the large magical talking portrait, looking around the large room in frustration.

Cullen decided to sit down on what he believed was a large soft couch, resting his face in his hands, he let out a slight moan as his back and bottom pressed into the soft surface.

"The Maker must hate me... a mage and now a man. How could this get any worse?" Cullen asked himself softly. Sighing again, Cullen mumbled after a minute of silence.

"Nelora? Can we please go back to the temple, I've had enough... please?" 

"We will don't you worry Knight-Captain. Before we go, I want to find out where we are and when you will meet him if that's okay?" Nelora questioned softly.

"Now let me see... I'm having trouble fully understanding what I'm seeing, it's all a blur... Location wise... we... we... this can’t be possible? I… I don't know how to say this... Knight-Captain, we are very far away from home. The reason everything looks so... well, odd is that this is not our home at all, this is an entirely different... world..." Nelora slowly finished her sentence in shock. 

Cullen jumped up off the couch in confusion. "What are you talking about mage, the Maker only made one world!"

"No shem, your forgetting that the elves lived on Thedas for much longer than you humans ever did! Your _"Maker"_ did not create Thedas at all! Even if he did, which he did not, the cosmos is a large place! Any god could have created plenty of other worlds out there!" Nelora stated heatedly. 

Shaking his head in denial Cullen replied. "You can’t be serious, you're telling me that one of my soul mates, right here, this short... man, lives on _"another world"_ that’s preposterous, completely barking mad!" 

Nelora growled, "YOU ARE A COMPLETELY STUPID IDIOT! Look at this home! If it even is a home?! Look around Cullen! We have never seen anything like this! Look out the window for fuck's sake! Have you ever seen a beach look like that in Thedas!? The magic portrait!? Their accents? Don't forget I can see more than what you're seeing! They have unseen engineering and architecture. There are tall glass structures the size of mountains with lights, so many lights, so many humans, so many languages, religions, foods, animals. I see large metal birds that can fly across the world carrying all kinds of people with it. This world is spectacular! They are so intelligent. How can you deny what's in front of us?... Earth." 

"What?" Cullen replied quietly.

"Earth... they call this place Earth, their world... Earth," Nelora whispered.

Cullen rolled his eyes placing his hands on his hips.

"Nelora that is completely idiotic, who would name their world after dirt? Obviously, this is fiction, metal flying birds? Tall glass mountain high structures? Lights? This is absurd."

Cullen could hear Nelora sigh loudly in his head making him clench his jaw in frustration. 

"Knight-Captain I know what I'm seeing! This ritual never makes up any fiction! This is incredible! To see a world so advanced from our own is remarkable -..."  

Nelora went quiet suddenly which caused Cullen to call out in a slight panic.

"Nelora? What's wrong?"

"I'm so sorry, I completely forgot to find out information on your soul mate! I was too enraptured about this… _Earth_ , I'll find out right now, just give me a... moment..." Nelora ended her sentence in pain before letting out a piercing cry, "AHHHHHH!" Nelora screamed piercing Cullen's mind.

"WHAT!? What happened!" Cullen yelled back in distress but also a slight concern for the elf. 

"Fenedhis! That hurt... I'm using too much magic, the distance between our worlds... our locations are too great, I can’t hold this ritual for much longer Knight-Captain."

Taking a deep breath Cullen could hear the elf start her next prophecy.

"His name, the short human that was in front of us...  Adrian Cocorocchio... he is a few years younger than you, he's kind, intelligent, generous, caring, selfless, a good man. He's happy... you... you... you will meet him... that's impossible?" Nerloa questioned herself before continuing, "You will meet him today..."

Cullen shook his head blinking multiple times trying to clear his mind as if that would change what was just said.

"I'm sorry, did you say today, as in today, today? That's absolutely preposterous! You said he's here, on this _"Earth"_ , another world. How in Thedas will we meet today! I am sick of these fucking games mage! TAKE ME BACK TO THE TEMPLE NOW!" Cullen screamed out loud in rage, shaking his fists in the air, utterly done with this ancient soul ritual.  

"I don't know how he will meet you today, but I know he will, I see... he will be in trouble, in danger in a nearby cave, close to your camp! I'm telling you the truth! YOU STUPID SHEM! WHY WOULD I LIE!?"

Before Cullen could fight back, this Adrian, walked out of the hallway fully dressed in the weirdest clothing, he had ever seen any person possess. His legs were covered in some type of tight dark blue pants made from rough material. His upper body was covered in a light grey jumper most likely out of wool, while a weirdly unique dark red leather jacket covered that, hugging is figure perfectly. Again, Cullen could not help himself but stare at Adrian as he bent down to clean a sauce splatter off the floor.  _Maker... those pants hug his bottom perfectly... why am I so attracted to this…man?_  

"Oh, creators... would you stop ogling this poor young gentleman and give him some privacy? I thought you said you weren't a horny grabby Templar Knight-Captain... or are all men this small minded?" Keeper Nelora ended her statement with a loud groan in frustration, trying to get Cullen's attention back to the more important issues at stake.

"I'm not a horny Templar! And I was not ogling him! A man can look at another man and complement his looks without ill intent, no?" Cullen replied sassily with a smirk.  

Rolling her emerald green eyes, not paying attention. Nelora and Cullen slightly lost focus on Adrian for a few seconds.

Sometimes a few seconds is all it takes for something to go from completely normal to chaotic. This caused them to jump in shock, mentally for Nelora and physically for Cullen when they heard a pained scream.

Twisting his head to the left, causing a slight neck spasm, Cullen watched in confusion and horror as Adrian dropped what appeared to be that exact same miniature replica of that stone wolf statue he saw in the Circle Tower of Ostwick back in Thedas.   
   
"Wait, what is that doing here!? Nelora, why is that miniature statue following us? How did Adrian see that!? What is going on here!? Why did that hurt him!?" Cullen yelled out loud beyond frustrated, concerned for the younger man.

"Oh no... this... this is not... this is not happening!? We need to go now! Knight-Captain prepare yourself!" Nelora belted out loud without any clear answer for her panicked tone.

The last thing Cullen saw through his large amber eyes before everything flashed a powerful bright white light, was Adrian on the floor, pressing his right hand in his left to suppress the pain, while the little wolf statue vanished in a puff of green smoke. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, everyone, I hope your all doing well! :D  
> I just wanted to say thank you so so SOOO much for all the amazing Kudos, comments, support, subs and more!  
> It means the world to me and it has really encouraged me to continue my story! I've been having so much fun writing up my dot points list for what I want to occur and I think your all going to love it! 
> 
> This chapter is where things really start to kick off in my story, I had a lot of fun making up new magic and story plots.  
> If you ever see any mistakes, issues, hardcore OOC or areas of improvements that I could use/add to my story or writing, in general, please don't feel shy, comment away! :D
> 
> Also so sorry for the long wait... I've just been so busy with adult life... sigh lol...  
> I promise to write the next chapter quicker!
> 
> PS! NEW NOTE!!!!  
> Hey guys! This is it! The last updated chapter! From now on all chapters will be new, so buckle up and enjoy the ride! I'm not sure how long it will take me to update frequently but I'll try my best.


	6. My First Authors Note!!!

Hey guys!  
  
So sorry it's been a long time. I hope all is well and that your stories are doing great! :D  
  
Now, about three months ago. I received very harsh, rude, vile, mean and quite off-putting comments that I wont even classify as criticisms on this story on Fan-Fiction.net. It really made me feel like absolute crap and it made me feel like the worst writer in the world. It went over 7000 words of complaint, the person bashed me with horrible terms and said I was a horrible person for treating my character with disrespect... and idiotic tones, etc etc etc... (The funny part is that the main character is me... I wrote myself, how I would act... but I guess I'm idiotic and dumb..?)   
  
Anyways, before I get into some news, here are the "Critics" as I want to show people on this website and others... THIS IS NOT HOW YOU WRITE CRITICISMS, OKAY!? This is verbal abuse at it's finest. Writing fanfiction is all about writing in your own style, using your imagination to take a world/story and making it your own... My story was tagged as Alternate Universe for a reason... It's an "ALTERNET UNIVERSE" it's gonna be different! People will be slightly different... duh?!! Sigh.... anyways here it is... tell me what you think! (FYI, He did actually have a few okay criticisms but he took it way past being helpful... T_T, as a new writer this was very, very damaging.)  
  
_**So, at the end of chapter one, you say that any criticisms would be great. Well, I feel like you're not going to like me very much, because after reading three and a half out of the five chapters available, I feel like some things need to be discussed.**_  
  
_**Firstly, you make it very clear, in your chapter one**_ end notes _ **, that the reason this fic happened is**_ because your _ **undies got in a twist over Bioware making a character you like not have the sexual preference you wanted, and that makes you "feel like an afterthought." Well, sorry to tell you, cupcake, but you're not the**_ center _ **of the universe. You being bisexual is not a make-or-break detail in the gaming industry. It's not Bioware's job to pander to your desires. They're trying to tell a story to a wide, diverse audience, and they can't exactly afford to drive the plot according to how a minority of voices in the crowd would like it to go. If they did, the story would be trash, and if you can find me a story that doesn't have this happen as a result of bending to the will of the individual, I'll eat my own hat.**_  
  
_**Besides that, Bioware is a subsidiary of Electronic Arts. They stopped being their own entity years ago. And EA is not exactly known for making decisions that benefit the final product of whatever games they push out onto store shelves. Like as not, the Dragon Age team had a ridiculous time constraint inflicted upon them, and Cullen's sexuality wound up being a necessary cut in order to make the deadline. Either that, or the people in charge of the Dragon Age story probably thought that he didn't need to be**_ bisexual, _ **since there's a metric assload of other characters who are as gay as the sunrise, or think everything with a pulse is sexy, as it is. Hell, I've played all manner of Inquisitors from pansexuals to asexuals. You're only a “second thought” because you**_ willingly _ **choose to believe**_ it, _ **since Bioware didn't do one thing with one character that you liked.**_  
  
_**I should take a moment to clarify here that I am pro-LGBTQ. However, I also value reading a good story, and in my experience, stories that are driven by someone's personal politics are not good. I didn't come to the Dragon Age side of FanFiction to read about a perceived injustice dealt against you; I came here to read about templars and mages duking it out, about dragons returning to the world even though they were thought extinct, about Orlesians dancing about the intricacies of their own convoluted politics, Qunari spy games and the looming threat of their invasion, Grey Wardens undertaking missions that show them the absolute worst horrors Thedas has to offer. I came here to read about how King Bhelen is forcing the dwarves of Orzammar to drag their sorry asses into the new day and stop living in a long-dead past. I came here to read about the Nordic/Celtic (both?) lifestyles of Ferelden natives.**_  
  
_**I came here to read about Dragon Age.**_  
  
_**I couldn't care less about Adrian being bisexual. I think his bisexuality being a defining trait of his personality makes him a bad character, along with his incessant whining and spastic**_ behavior _ **patterns. I think the scene where his brother harasses him for no other reason than because he's bisexual, only to get white knighted into oblivion by their mother, was pointless**_ strawmanning _ **, and cutting it from the story would sacrifice nothing in terms of quality. I think it's ridiculous to make a fic based solely around someone's sexual preferences, and altering another character's canon sexuality in order to hook the two of them up, and I think it's even more ridiculous to do this in a canon that treats the matter as a fringe element, at best, and irrelevant otherwise. (Seriously. There's all of one sidequest, across three entire games, about someone being gay. You can easily avoid it by not recruiting the individual it's tied to, not going out of your way to buddy up to him, not even talking to him at any point after you recruit him... That's how much Dragon Age cares about sexual preferences as a topic of discussion. The one time it comes up, it's so easy to miss that you could sneeze at it and hit the wall instead.)**_  
  
_**But enough about that.**_  
  
_**Secondly: your storytelling elements, themselves, speak of someone who needs to calm the hell down and pay better attention to their grammar lessons. Every time something is described, there's a fuckton of descriptors applied to it when just one or two would suffice. Sentences are written in such a way that it seems like the narrator never stops for a breath. Things happen at a hectic, sporadic pace - one second, Adrian's bedside table is receiving far more attention than it needs, and then the next, Adrian trips, falls flat on his**_ face, _ **and proceeds to whine about it, about how sweaty he is, about how he has a pimple, blah blah blah.**_  
  
_**A friend of mine jokingly made reference to Patrick Bateman, the infamous antagonist of the movie American Psycho, and how he just had to over-describe every little detail of his morning routine. It was disturbingly accurate to your own insistence on over-describing every little detail of whatever meaningless thing Adrian is wasting the audience's time doing. I'll get into the specifics of, “why do we need to know this?” later in the review, but for now: Unless this fic is about to take a sharp turn into horror genre territory, I'd advise that you cool down on that, because it's not a good sign when your style of narration is immediately compared to an insane murderer.**_  
  
_**Your tenses jump around all over the place - if the story is being told in the third person, then the narrator does not ever address the audience, nor do they have an identity of their own:**_  
  
_**1\. "Adrian was terrified or should I say-" uh, no. Unless Adrian is the narrator, there is no "I."**_  
_**2\. "[...]like a loud vibration of a banger song at a nightclub or concert counting on your taste." Uh, no again. The narrator is speaking in the third person. They do not address the audience ("you") unless the perspective is being told in the SECOND person.**_  
  
_**Character actions make no sense. Someone in fear for their life isn't going to have the cognitive awareness to think about some random Harry Potter personality quiz and how they got Ravenclaw as a result. And certainly, if this was meant as a way of informing the audience of how smart Adrian is, I don't buy it for one second, because all his actions up to and beyond that point indicate otherwise. Hence why "Show, Don't Tell" is a rule that any good writer will harp on you about if given a chance to do so: TELLING the audience that a character is something, and then never once displaying this thing that they supposedly are - i.e., Adrian took a test on the internet that told him he was smart, but then proceeds to bust his face on the floor,**_ bust _ **his knee in the shower, make a complete ass out of himself in plain view of his bullying brother, and those are just the incidents I've read about so far - is BAD storytelling, and it locks your character into a cut-and-dry personality expectation that you now have to craft the entire story around, or risk making him look like a liar. SHOWING a character actively doing something that could be seen as, "hey, this guy's pretty smart!", i.e., maybe having Adrian actively looking for some means of defending himself against the giant spiders that he's freaked the fuck out about, is GOOD storytelling, and helps to shape your character as the story progresses, because you didn't make the mistake of claiming that they behave one way before you wrote the scene where that trait was supposed to surface.**_  
  
_**Another friend of mine pointed out that, while unnecessary in the first place, your timestamps are also completely unhelpful. At one point, the timestamp listed "23 hours ago." Friend's comment: "So we’re twenty-three hours after an unspecified number of days before a Wednesday which occurred in the year 2018." If the audience is unable to infer when, in history, a certain point of the story is happening, even after a timestamp has been given to try and help them reach that understanding, then something's been lost in translation somewhere.**_  
  
_**It may seem like I'm beating a dead horse here, but I'm going back to the bullying incident in chapter two: that scene can be summed up as you**_ putting _ **on a sock puppet show. You know, those little kiddy presentations that adults use to try and not-so-subtly push life lessons on the little ones who would otherwise elect not to pay attention because that stuff is boring? Yeah, it's like that. That's bad storytelling. If the audience is made to feel like there's an agenda being pushed, they're not going to be very inclined to take the intended hero's side. I certainly wasn't. A fic I've read (and deeply regret reading) in the past, The Prayer Warriors, is an extreme example of this, as its author made it a point to hawk his extremist Christian views in every single sentence of the story, when he wasn't having his characters going on crusades and murdering every "heathen"**_ in sight _ **simply because "they're heathens."**_  
  
_**That's what the bullying scene between Luke and Adrian felt like. Bisexual boy gets poked fun at, feels bad for himself, then a STALWART**_ DEFENDERRR _ **! shows up and puts the mean nasty bully in his place, And Knowing Is Half The Battle, everybody has a hearty laugh, the radio clapped, Magic Johnson slam dunked Luke into the trash, Adrian walks off valiantly into the sunset, end scene.**_  
  
_**As I said, this is pointless**_ strawmanning _ **\- the definition of a strawman being a thoroughly one-sided argument which the debating party makes up because those are easier to win against than somebody using rational thought, evidence, and experience to argue their stance against the debating party. Luke is "**_ teh bulli _ **," Adrian is the poor victim of abuse, their mother is the STALWART**_ DEFENDERRR _ **!, game, set, match, Adrian takes the trophy. And as I said, this entire scene could be cut from the story at a net loss of precisely nothing. The whole chapter is just filler for the eventual transition of Adrian to Thedas anyhow, it's not like it really needs the extra word count. Hell, you could do away with the whole premise of Adrian having a family worth talking about, since once the transition is made, they'll likely never be brought up again.**_  
  
_**The biggest negative point about this scene, though, is that it goes on FOR HALF OF THE CHAPTER. There is no excuse for such a massive waste of word space. If you can't condense that down so that it doesn't wind up dominating everything written on the page, then it needs to get the axe, because now you're wasting the audience's time.**_  
  
_**Song lyrics in**_ narrative _ **\- NO. BAD STORYTELLING. If I want to listen to a Rihanna song, I certainly don't turn to a fanfic in order to do so. I have YouTube, I can just type in her name and blindly click the first music video in the results. And**_ phoneticizing _ **the tune of the song: NO, AGAIN. Anybody who's not heard the song themselves is going to have no damn clue what it is you're trying to convey, especially when the only word they have to go by is "do" repeated ad**_ nauseum _ **. And the formatting you used for the lyrics was fucking TERRIBLE. Did it feel as awkward for you to type as it felt for me to read? Because I can't imagine how you looked that over afterwards and thought it was passable.**_  
  
_**If you really must include an instance of your character singing along to the radio, just say that they sang along to the radio after a song they liked came on. Boom, just like that, we know what Adrian is doing. We need exactly zero other details. There's a song on that he likes, and he's having a shower-time singalong. We get it. The story moves on.**_  
  
_**On the topic of the shower scene, though... exactly what purpose does it serve? Why is it there? Does it do anything to add to the story? Because I sure don't think so. I think it's just a waste of word space.**_  
  
_**Descriptions can best be summed up as "creepy":**_  
  
_**1.**_ "Adrian _ **calmed himself breathing deeply trying to make no noise, he then noticed that all he could hear was his breathing and the wet droplets echoing throughout the cavern." Why is it not just water dripping? Why is it "wet droplets?" Why are you going out of your way to make this cavern sound sexual? It's just a cavern.**_  
  
_**2\. "Adrian looked into his mirror which was actually sliding doors to his wardrobe. He sighed again, 'Great… I really need to take a shower, why do I have to produce so much body oil overnight?'" Better question, why do we need to know about it? Is this some important character trait, that Adrian sweats in his sleep? This is going back to my earlier remark about how your narration is on par with Patrick Bateman, by the way.**_  
  
_**3\. "Hot steamy water gushed out of the perforated metal showerhead, coating Adrian continuously, causing his light smooth skin to turn different shades of pinks and reds." I get that your trying to hint at Adrian being sexy, but if this weren't a story about two dudes having themselves a romance, I'd be deeply concerned about how much effort is going into talking about Adrian's wet, naked, rosy body. And, also, given that a chapter prior, you established Adrian as “average,” I don't think you can really double back and try to amp up his sex appeal. “Average” is a kid who has no noticeable muscle definition, but isn't necessarily fat, either. “Average” is a kid who has a face that would never see the front of a magazine**_ cover, _ **but isn't necessarily hideous to the point that only a mother could love it. You know those uncanny valley-looking child models in Dragon Age II? That's what average looks like.**_  
  
_**4\. "The hot water, close to boiling point, allowed him to wash away all the natural body oils and germs he accumulated during his sleep." Again, this is not something we need to know. In fact, it's pretty gross to read about. I'm sure there's someone with a fetish for oily skin or some shit like that, but I have a fair guess that much of your intended audience disagrees.**_  
  
_**5\. "From simple foot taps to**_ butt shaking _ **-" I really don't want to read about Adrian shaking his ass. I'm not sure why it was even necessary to bring that particular thing up. At what point do the words, "Too Much Information" spring up in your mind?**_  
  
_**Spelling is dodgy and inconsistent. You misspell “Ferelden,” capitalize words that don't need to be capitalized (“winter,” “south,” etc.), and yet somehow, Orlais winds up spelled correctly. The French word is the word that gets spelled right. I don't get it.**_  
  
_**While you appear to have a tangible grasp**_ on _ **canon elements, you just as quickly show that it's not very firm. Your “elvish” word for**_ soul _ **mate is complete crap, according to canon dialect AND a fan extension on the language, endorsed, but not canonized, by David Gaider himself. The closest possible equivalent would be “one love,” if we're just adhering to your method of slamming canon words together to make portmanteaus, and apart from that, the elves already have a term for one's love – it's “Ma**_ vhenan _ **.” Informally, it's “Lethallin/Lethallan/Lethallen,” dependent upon one's gender. You also have a character use blood to find his soul mate, but then have him say, “oh, but it's not blood magic.” Newsflash, any magic that uses blood is blood magic. That's kind of the point of it being called BLOOD magic.**_  
  
_**Something you do multiple times in chapter three is having**_ dialogue _ **between multiple characters go unattributed, and not be properly separated into their own paragraphs. It's a new paragraph for every line of dialogue which is spoken by another party, they don't get jammed into the same block of words. And even if it's just “one knight said/another replied,” or something similar, identify who is speaking.**_  
  
_**You jumped rather quickly to “sex” in your narrative. Like, uncomfortably fast. Chapter three, and already, we have horny templars?**_ Knight-Captain _ **Cullen almost jacking himself off, for no reason? A damn rape joke, of all things? Do you not realize that there's more to romance than sex? I sincerely hope you realize there's more to romance than sex. I get that this is supposed to be a bisexual ship, but if you're that eager to write about bedroom activities, maybe you should just drop the**_ pretense _ **of there being any actual story here and go write a porno instead.**_  
  
_**The last point I'd like to touch on here is how much time is dedicated to**_ Adrian, _ **before we ever learn a thing about**_ Thedas, _ **or Cullen: THREE CHAPTERS BEFORE WE GET THE PLOT MOVING? In what world does this make sense to you? You claim to have read, and I quote: "like over a thousand" fics between this site and Archive Of Our Own, and in all that reading, it never once crossed your mind that dedicating two entire chapters to the introduction of one character, and only getting shit moving in chapter THREE, in a fic that currently only has FIVE CHAPTERS, is a BAD IDEA? You could cut out every point I've touched on so far, where the questions, “Why is this important? Why do we need to know this? Why is this here? What does this add to the story?” have been asked, and STILL have too much buildup for this early in the damn story. Hell, I did just that, on at least two different occasions – first, I nixed your half-a-chapter-long strawman scene, then I nixed the half of a chapter where Adrian is just dicking around in Lakes Entrance, then I completely did away with most of chapter three because it was just douchebag templars being douchebags and also implied masturbation, and even after all that removal of superfluous information, there was next to no difference in the amount of time wasted getting Adrian to Thedas.**_  
  
_**We get it, Adrian is the main protagonist, but he's not so damn important that he warrants the plot meandering at this ungodly slow pace (while also being told hectically by a narrator who maybe needs to lay off the energy drinks, ironically). The Modern Major-General song is less up its own ass than this fic's treatment of Adrian.**_  
  
_**If you're as interested in improving your writing as you claim, boy, let me tell you, that is going to be one spectacularly long road at the pace you're going.**_  
  
**So, to sum up: You asked for my criticism, and it is that you really, desperately need to focus on reining in your narrative. It is a colossal mess. As it is presently, this fic reads like a juvenile fantasy, rather than a romance that I'm supposed to be taking seriously.**  
  
 _You've got a lot of work to do, bud. Might want to get started._  
  


So as you can see, this was horrible, it was mean, vile and just completely unwanted. Sigh... It completely turned me off, continuing my story and I feel so bad for letting you all down! But let's keep going cause the douche continued...  
I don't understand, I never wanted to make this story all about sexuality at all... :/  
That really hurt my feeling, I know I sound like im whining but geez...   
  
  
**_Right, so apparently I need to expand upon my criticism of your "Elven" language._**  
  
**_Specifically, the part where you're straight-up butchering it._**  
  
**_Chapter four is driving me up a damn wall. Every single sentence that you've written in the "Elven" tongue has been a load of garbled nonsense. I get that the canon surrounding the language is that a great deal of it was lost to history, so fans really don't have much to go on, but for Christ's sake, there are several fan interpretations and expansions of the language that you could utilize if you really need to pop down a sentence in Elven so badly._**  
  
**_Let's look at some of the problems:_**  
  
**_\- The elves have a word for "Dread Wolf." His name is Fen'Harel._**  
**_\- The elves do not worship Fen'Harel, because he's like the devil to them. They offer prayers that Fen'Harel doesn't find_** people, ** _and curse anybody who offends them with the hopes that they get taken by him._**  
**_\- The word is "_** shemlen ** _," not "_** shemlem ** _."_**  
**_\- You consistently get the word "lath" right... and somehow NOTHING ELSE._**  
**_\- If there are equally as many Common words in a sentence which is supposed to be spoken in Elven, then you're very obviously not even trying._**  
  
**_Honestly, it's impossible to play a Dragon Age game without eventually running into the Elven language. And as I said, there are resources available for crafting your own additions to the language that don't read like utter shit because you chose to half-ass it rather than put in any work to make things look legitimate. You have no excuse for this. Either put in the effort to make the sentences look like real Elven dialect, or take out the "Elven" bits completely, but don't slap your keyboard and expect your readers to accept the steaming shitpile that comes out as anything other than what it is: CRAP._**

 

Okay, so this one hurt me as well. I'm new to Dragon Age and its lore and history. I was trying my best and I actually used a DAI Elven translator from English into Elven... but I guess it was not good... oh well... Sigh... instead of bashing someone and being super rude, why not help them instead such as: "Hi, I just read your story and I've noticed that your elven is not correct, would you like some help fixing these up? :)"  
That is not hard to do... geez make friends! not enemies, it's not that hard...  
  
Anyways this was not about me complaining, as he did have some point's that I need to take into account.   
  
This is where the news comes in! But also advice :D  
  
I'm planning on restarting this fanfiction this week, and I wanted to know if you guys wanted me too?  
I also have some questions.  
  
Do you agree with him? Should I make the story faster? or Slower?  
Fix certain scenes? Or the whole story?  
  
Should I keep it all first person? Just from Adrian's perspective?  
Keep it the same?  
  
Now, this part annoyed me a lot.  
  
_**You jumped rather quickly to “sex” in your narrative. Like, uncomfortably fast. Chapter three, and already, we have horny templars?**_ Knight-Captain _ **Cullen almost jacking himself off, for no reason? A damn rape joke, of all things? Do you not realize that there's more to romance than sex? I sincerely hope you realize there's more to romance than sex. I get that this is supposed to be a bisexual ship, but if you're that eager to write about bedroom activities, maybe you should just drop the**_ pretense **of there being any actual story here and go write a porno instead.**  
  
News flash... people masturbate all the time, anywhere anytime... and I did not go through with it, I showed Cullen's personality, his stress, his anxiety and much more in that scene then just, "Sex"... does anyone agree with me? Is there something wrong with that? I feel like it's a very human natural thing to do to calm one's self... idk maybe I'm wrong.  
  
Anyways I'd love to hear from you all! Ideas and other things! :)  
  
Thanks so much for the freaking nearly 500 hits... that's crazy. and the likes, comments and subs! It's so nice to see <3  
  
Have an aweosme day! :D  
  
~ Light_Mage  
  
  



	7. Second Authors Note!!! x These will be deleted in a few days...

Morning everyone!  
  
I just wanted to say thanks so much for the kind comments! They really boosted my confidence and made me feel like I was apart of this awesome Fandom!  
  
As I said to a viewer in my comments section, after much thought over the last few hours, I've decided to just update each chapter instead of starting completely from scratch. Now some chapters might be different, some might be very similar, even the same with extra parts, so I hope you still enjoy my story! :D  
  
Again if you see anything wrong with my story, lore-wise, elvish language wise or just grammar wise, please let me know! :D  
  
 **FYI!!!! #ALERT!!!!!!!** This is an alternate universe with its own lore and history similar to dragon age! I will be making new things up! Some characters might be a bit OOC, some will not! This story will be realistic, dark, brutal and devastating just like real medieval times. Of course, there will be happy, funny and romantic times also with the extra fluffiness.   
  
Have an awesome day guys! Chapter 1 revisited will be updated in a few minutes after this post!  
  
~ Light_Mage


	8. Update/News!

Hey guys! long time no see/chat and for that, I am really sorry. >_<

I've had such a busy crazy year, starting university again and family issues, life itself, etc, etc, etc...

Good news though!

I'm finally on holidays! I hope you have all been well and I hope you all have noticed a few changes recently.  
Over the last few months, I slowly but surely started to update Chapters 1 - 4 (4 was updated today!!!! \^-^/ ) and 5 is on its way... I don't know when I'll finish it, but hopefully in less than 2 weeks...

I hope you all have been enjoying the newly updated chapters and the direction/newly added story plots! I think they sound much better and more interesting!   
I've tried really, really hard to make them the highest quality I can produce. If you ever see issues with ooc, lore, grammar, or want to give me ideas to add to the story, please hit me up in the comments section! (Be kind guys!)

Have an amazing Christmas/Holiday season and New Years! <3

= Light_Mage~


	9. Elven Foci

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! We are finally heading to Thedas! Sorry for the long wait! Working on chapter 7 right now as I type this!  
> I hope you guys are enjoying my story so far and I hope you like my new changes to the lore of the Dragon Age Universe, I can't wait to add more ;).
> 
> As you guys know, this is an Alternate Universe story, so I am making up a decent amount as I go along with a decent amount of canon included (some things might be similar, some might not, some characters might be OOC some might not, it counts on the perspective.), so I hope it makes some sense to you guys who might be hardcore lore experts! 
> 
> I am not the biggest lore knowing guy when it comes to Dragon Age, so I've been researching a lot, sometimes more than I should be writing!!! Anyways I hope u guys like it! :D Enjoy!
> 
>  
> 
> PS: Any comments <3 or ideas or wants or criticisms are welcome! I know I'm not the best writer in the world ^^; But I really am trying to improve it!

**_Location:_ ** **_Sundermount, Free Marches, Thedas – Seven minutes ago_ **

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**_Time: 8:38 AM_ **

****

**_Date:_** ** _6th Pluitanis 9:37 Dragon_**   

 

* * *

 

 

****_The last thing Cullen saw through his large amber eyes before everything flashed a powerful bright white light, was Adrian on the floor, pressing his right hand in his left to suppress the pain, while the little wolf statue vanished in a puff of green smoke._  
  


* * *

 

 

Just like his other two experiences, the intensity and disorientation from mentally teleporting from one place to another instantaneously made Cullen feel quite nauseated. This time, however, was much more noticeable as he was finally placed back into his own real body and conscious.

The feeling of being placed back into his body was an unusual one, his limbs tingled with a numbing sensation, unlike anything he ever felt. While his eyes and head ached in a targeted pain that felt like his very heart was beating inside them, repeatedly.

Moaning in pain with his eyes shut tight, Cullen fell from his kneeled position and into a slouched all fours. “Maker take me… I feel like shit… I just need to breathe deeply…” Cullen whispered to himself in a rough almost congested voice.

Taking in deep breaths every few seconds and exhales which released his fogged breath and unwanted tension from his body, slowly helped a little.

After a few moments, he finally had the strength to open his eyes sluggishly as he slowly adjusted to his surroundings, Cullen expected to see the two annoying apostates he had come to know, ready to send him off back to his camp outpost. Instead, he was shocked to find the temple in complete darkness with no one in sight.

 _Why are all the torches out? Where are the two elven apostates? How much time has passed?_ Cullen thought in a panicked state.

“Knight-Captain! I’m here!! You have to stop him, he’s going to hurt Adria- MMMMmm!!” Nelora shrieked in a panicked state before her mouth was covered stopping her from giving away her location.

Quickly responding to Nelora’s shriek of help, Cullen jumped up from his kneeled position and into a Templar battle one. He scanned the ancient temple with his eyes slowly while gritting his teeth for mental stability, the only light available to him was now the sunlight beams entering through the massive ancient door far up ahead.

 _I need to get closer to the entrance, it is the only way I will be able to see clearly… it’s also the only way out of this dreadful place… I should have never trusted these despicable mages._ Cullen contemplated running for his life, but he knew deep down that he had to help Nelora and the Cloaked elf as they had gone through so much effort to help him find his own soul mates. So, he planned in his mind and came up with a speedy plan.

 _This better work…_ Cullen hoped.

Quickly dashing forward with no afterthought, Cullen moved further and further away from the centre of the temple at an impressive speed for a large man in heavy armour. He was just about to reach the last pair of support columns when a powerful invisible magic barrier forced him back violently, sending him tumbling backwards with excessive momentum.

“Andraste! Fuck!” Cullen swore in agony as he crashed onto the floor harshly. Moaning in pain, he tried to get up off the dusty ancient cobblestone floor, but it was no use. Cullen found himself magically immovable to the ground.

“What is the meaning of this!? LET ME GO!!!!” He yelled with as much anger as he could muster. Sadly, it did not do the trick.

“Tsk… Tsk…” The Cloaked elf muttered from a distance. He walked sassily again, with his hips moving side to side as his bare feet made little taps throughout the echoey cold temple.

Cullen raised one blond eyebrow in a panic state of confusion. _What in Thedas is happening? What is this idiot doing? I need to keep my eyes on him… this could go very badly… fuck I should have told my men where I went…  
_ Cullen thought to himself as he stared at the mischievous Clocked elf.

Finally reaching Cullen, the elf bent down and smiled into Cullen’s scared pale face.

“What is the meaning of this elf!? This was not part of our agreement! LET ME GO!” Cullen screamed into the Cloaked elf’s face in fury, this caused a few drops of saliva to be sprayed onto the elf’s face from their proximity. Cullen gritted his teeth in anger, “Once I get out of this magical trap blood mage, you better watch you’re back…  I won’t allow you to see tomorrow’s sunrise!”  
  
The elf glared into Cullen’s dark angered eyes. Distaste, anger, hopelessness, sadness, worry, anxiety and cruelty could be seen in them, he knew these exact emotions, these exact feelings of despair and loneliness, his threat carried no weight. But no primitive human could ever understand his pain, his loss, his faults… they were a mistake… a blight to his world. _I will fix this, I will bring back my civilisation! No idiotic threat from a dim-witted magic hater will stop me, I finally found what I’ve been looking for… after all these years… the answer is just one ritual away… Just that one… ritual… that bloody ritual…_

Lost in his dark thoughts and memories, the pathetic human interrupted him. “LET ME GO!” Cullen growled in a boiling rage.

Shaking his head, the elf laughed in disgust with a fake tone as he wiped his face with his sleeve dramatically, straightening back into a standing position before going into a stern cliché lecture.

“I thought you heroic… brilliant… knowledgeable…Templars would know better than to trust an apostate… and a powerful one at that… clearly, I was mistaken.” The elf smiled darkly staring at Cullen with the stare of a mad man.

“Today will be a great day… or should I say, it is a great day… after a few millenniums of suffering, of struggle, of violence, of death, of slavery, of many dark unforgivable sins towards my people, of loss…my loss.” The elf looked down towards the ground in sadness, eyes closed.

“Today marks the beginning and victory of my people, of my world! TODAY I SHALL FIX WHAT I RUINED, AND NO ONE CAN STOP ME!” He cried out towards the ceiling of the temple, raising his head and arms out wide. Turning back towards Cullen he continued.

“Thanks to you and your pathetic attempt at trying to find people who could never love a man like you, you unknowingly found the last ingredient to my plan. Thanks to you, a ‘ _human at that’_ , I can finally reclaim my world and my civilisation! I can purge all that I see unfit!” Smiling happily, eyes bright and shiny and hopeful for the first time in over three thousand years, he stated one last fact.

“Of course, that includes you Knight-Captain…”

Eyes wide in panic, Cullen tried to get out of his magical bindings, moving his arms and legs widely, but it was a lost cause, the magic bindings kept him still as a rock.

“No! Please! I beg you… I... I can be a good man!” Before he could finish is pleas, Cullen’s eyes turned sickly green, his vision went foggy, his surroundings increasingly darkened and his hearing deafened. The last thing Cullen saw was something he was not expecting, it was Nelora running with her dagger to a nearby column, she somehow escaped.

“I… can…be,” he whispered sluggishly… Cullen’s breathing slowed as his eyes closed and his whole body became dead weight, the Knight-Captain of Kirkwall failed.

“Tsk… Tsk… what a horrible fight, I thought you were stronger than that Templar… I heard you had great resolve… a strong mind. Sadly, you won’t remember any of this, the last hour never happened, I shall see you again in a couple of years... Knight-Captain.” The Clocked elf threatened as he grinned sinisterly.

With one last upward hand movement, his mind-erasing spell was complete, the last hour and a few memories were completely removed from Cullen’s mind and sent to the fade, lost forever. Cullen’s new and last slither of hope, of happiness of light in secretly finding love or even a friend that could care for him, that could understand him with all his flaws was sucked out of him, this left just pity, hopelessness and darkness behind.

Dusting off his hands like he touched something uncivilized and dirty, the Cloaked elf pulled his dark hood away from his pale face. He was done with hiding, it was time to show Thedas his pure potential. _It is time to capture my ingredient…_ he thought.

While the Cloaked elf thought of his plans he stopped paying attention to his surroundings as he believed his two companions were bound and unmoving. Sneaking right behind him, Nelora quietly made a fast dash forward, pouncing onto his slim back while holding his neck in a tight forceful grip, her dagger ready to slice his throat.

“How do you like this Fen'Harel? Lord of Tricksters and Bringer of Nightmares, how would you like to die? Slit throat or stabbed in the heart, I promise to do it well... since that’s all your good at Masal din'an,” Nelora whispered darkly into the elf’s pointy right ear.

“I heard everything you said to the Shem, you caused this, didn’t you? You are the reason our world is this way? How could you do that to us? To your own people… no wonder why you’re our god of betrayal… you betrayed us all… Na din'an sahlin. “

Growling in complete anger Fen'Harel snapped, “YOU KNOW NOTHING, YOU WILL NEVER KNOW NOTHING, YOU ARE NOT MY PEOPLE!” He yelled in frustration and anger, as his magic went wild and out of control. A large powerful green explosion blasted Nelora and her dagger right of his back and into the wall right behind her.

Screaming in shock, Nelora slammed hard into the stone bricked wall, head first, this knocked her out cold as her body rolled a few times along the floor also becoming dead weight on the ground alongside Cullen.

Sighing in annoyance Fen'Harel contemplated removing her memories, he stared at her in a boiling rage, his bright blue eyes showed darkness as he circled her body slowly, like a predator circling its prey.

“I could completely remove every single memory you have, I could make you useless… worthless… I could make you nothing. Did you really think you could kill me? A god? Pathetic Dalish da’len, Mala suledin nadas… Your clan would fall, your people would die without you and even knowing so, you tried to protect this daft _human_ that you barely know? I’m surprised at how easily you betrayed your people, I’m surprised at how easily you betrayed me… Sadly today was always going to be your last da’len, now you’ve made it easier for me to do so.

With the wave of his hand, Nelora gently floated upwards until her whole body drooped loosely in the air, her limbs dangled towards the ground while her head rolled backwards with no support.

Walking towards the centre of the temple, with Nelora’s body floating right behind, Fen'Harel stepped towards the stone dish which was used to collect Cullen’s blood earlier. Closing his eyes with both hands out in front of him, he concentrated on closing the dish, moulding it back into its original form, his Elven Foci.

The sound of magical waves and grinding stone could be heard throughout the temple, it took a lot of time, magic and skill to form and deform elven foci’s, but it had to be done, he needed this to work.

After three minutes of brutal concentration and exhaustion, Fen'Harel let out a final scream of release as the Foci melded back into its original shape. It calmly floated in its spot, spinning as it glowed a bright mysterious light red almost pink instead of its usual green, its brightness covered the entire dark interior of the temple in its warping warm colours, like light reflecting of crystal-clear waters. It was magical, mystical and beautiful all in one.

Fen'Harel laughed in glee, his entire race depended on this moment. _This is it, I can finally save my home, after all these years it’s finally time to bring back what is missing._ While in a complete trance, he did not hear Nelora moaning in pain.  
  
Slowly opening her eyes, Nelora blinked a few times to clear the tears in them before letting out a shocked gasp on what her eyes could see. “Creators… what is this? What is that? What are you doing!? Let me go!!” She screamed in pain and shock, she would not give up, nor let this traitor see it.

Slowly turning around, Fen'Harel stared into her pained eyes, his showed remorse? Sadness and worry, Nelora was beyond confused.  “Da’len-” he whispered but was rudely cut off.  
  
“Don’t call me that! I’m not a child you vile, disgusting piece of sh- AHHHHHHHHH!!!“Nelora screamed in complete agony as Fen'Harel magically squeezed her entire body severely. It felt like knives cutting and fire burning her skin all at once, she cried for help she cried for the pain to end. “Please stop! Please! STOP IT!”

Hearing her pleas made Fen'Harel feel guilty and disgusted with himself for getting easily angered, letting her go quickly, he let her body collapse to the ground in a quick swipe of his left arm.

Moaning in pain and holding her head, Nelora glared angrily into his light blue eyes and questioned his motives.

“Why are you doing this? All this evil… for what? You promised me my clan would be safe if we helped you. You promised me no harm would come of us! You said we deserved a second chance, at what? We are happy here in Sundermount, you said we would help people find their Saron Laths to bring the races of Thedas together and now you're attacking them?! Why are you changing this course of action? Why is this Adrian so important to you?”

She noticed his anger turned to a slight shock as his frown slightly twitched, she hit a nerve. “Yes… I did see your miniature stone wolves... ‘ _Cloaked Elf’,_ please, do tell me why you were spying on us? What is so important about Adrian?”

Growling in anger Fen'Harel stomped his way right to her body, placing his feet next to her legs as he crouched down and glared into her soul.

“This orb is an Elven Foci many were dedicated to channel powers from our gods, somewhere dedicated to members in our pantheon… all that remains now are references that clutter in our ruins scattered around Thedas and our lost city of Arlathan. Shattered fainted memories and plentiful instructions of our lost empire and Foci’s litter the fade also. They have many uses _da’len_ _,_ too many to discuss in the time we have, but since you only have a short time left in this world, I might as well tell you my plans, at least most of them.”

Standing even closer he continued. “You see when my civilisation ruled these lands… Elvhenan, these Foci helped us develop fantastical magic and advanced technologies filled with our dreams and wonder none of which this world has seen in millennia. We made great strides and great progress, **our people were glorious and eternal and never-changing. Like the great oak tree, they were constant in their traditions, strong in their roots, and ever reaching for the sky.**

**They felt no need to rush when life was endless. They worshipped their gods for months at a time. Decisions came after decades of debate, and an introduction could last for years. From time to time, our ancestors would drift into centuries-long slumber, but this was not death, for we know they wandered the Fade in dreams.**

We were immortal beings with immense knowledge, we could build and develop anything we dreamed of, our civilisation was the utmost in the cosmos, its heart at the centre of the world, full of love, kindness, equality and purity… or so we thought. We… became too… greedy too rash too dependent… on our power… some became too powerful too godlike, people were segregated for their power and knowledge, our civilisation as one would say, was in near ruins politically, we needed a way to fix our population and its dark mindset. We used these Foci many times… for many things, and it changed our world forever in many unpleasant ways…”

Sighing, looking down in disgust he shook his head in defeat, then continued. “These Foci are immensely powerful counting on its properties and the user who uses it, they can rip a tear into the cosmos and the fade itself… this one actually made the veil a reality…”

Eyes bulging, and mouth open ajar in shock, Nelora shook her head in disbelief. “What? That’s… that can’t be? That’s not possible… the fade has always been protected by the veil, a part of Thedas a part of who we are… Creators… YOU LIE!” She screamed. “WHY WOULD YOU DO THIS!? NONE OF THIS MAKES SENSE?”

Standing back up and walking back to his Foci, Fen'Harel continued. “The reason why I’ve been helping others find their Saron Laths was not to bring the races of Thedas together in unity… it was quite the opposite actually. I needed to collect their blood to activate my Foci and find the last ingredient to fix all of this… by convincing you to help me, I was able to send apart of my sight alongside you, thus, the little wolf statues. Doing so, I could track down each individual we found in the hope of finding what I’ve been searching for all these years, a rarity…”

Frowning in distaste and not backing down, Nelora asked more, “What do you mean a rarity? Why is this Adrian rare? Why do you need a shem… a human from, where ever he is from?”

Turning around Fen'Harel smiled, an unsettling smile, “Adrian is not what I was expecting… I don’t know how he is what I need, but I know that he is exactly what I need, his reaction to my presence justifies this. He is not just a rarity _da’len_ _…_ he is the description of the word, he is the last of a lineage, heredity I never thought I’d see again, let alone find, he has a rare gift a rare heart full of light and love full of power.”

Shaking her head in confusion and annoyance Nelora ground her teeth and slithered out one last question. “Will you stop giving me lectures and answering my questions with more questions and idiotic riddles? I want to know what is going on here!? Why is Adrian rare!? ANSWER ME!”

“I WILL NOT ANSWER YOU, YOU DALISH BITCH! I ANSWER TO NO ONE! All you shall know is that the _quickling…_ Adrian has a rare gift, something that’s not been seen in Thedas for eras. I don’t understand how a _Human_ has this gift… let alone a _Human_ from their pathetic useless world… but he’s not only comprehensively powerful, but he also has the potential to change Thedas completely. He can flip the entire balance of this world politically and religiously, and I need him here so that I can use his gift for my own devices, for the good of our people!”

Reaching out to grab his Foci, Fen'Harel smiled as he stared into its pink hypnotising hues with a smile that did not reach his blue eyes. “It was nice knowing you, Nelora Lavellan…” In one twist of his left hand, the Elven Foci rapidly spun clockwise as its glow warped from its previous red-pink hue to a solid light blue.

Screaming in shock and pain, Nelora tried to back away but it was no use, she was stuck to the ground just as the knight-captain was. The orb spun faster and faster as it got closer to her. She screamed for it to stop, she screamed for Fen'Harel to forgive her, she tried to wiggle out of her magic bindings, she tried to blast her magic to break its grip on her, she even contemplated letting a demon take control of her but again it was no use.

Nelora felt her magic and her life being sucked away from her very figure and into the orb itself. The pain was excruciating, it felt like her body was being burnt and frozen all at once while her limbs felt like stones. Shrieking an ear-splitting scream of pure terror and pain was the last thing Nelora was able to do as she watched in a hazy gaze, all her magic and blood seeping out of her body and into the Foci. With one last dry painful gasp for air, Nelora’s body went cold, pale and limp, her eyes lost their natural spunky spark, Nelora saw nothing she felt nothing. She was gone.

Turning away from the dark scene before him, Fen'Harel sighed deeply in pain, he did not like killing his own distorted people, he wanted to give them hope and happiness a chance at a new start, a new life, just how it used to be. But to get there, he must make sacrifices, he must push forward, this is the only way in his mind.

 _This is the only way, I need to do this, I need to save my people from the mistakes I’ve made… from the world I’ve created, I just need to do this ritual again at a smaller size… this one last time. Now that the Foci is fully powered and touched with the knight-captain’s blood from his ritual, it should connect to this Adrian instantly, it will take a moment to reach Earth and then I shall have my ingredient!_ He thought to himself in delight. __  
  
Laughing in pure happiness Fen'Harel began the ritual that started all his issues in the first place, the cause of the elven people’s downfall. Placing his Foci in the centre of the temple, Fen'Harel sat with his legs crossed as he closed his eyes and concentrated. Taking in one large breath, he finally began the process of sending his Foci through the cosmos itself to its new destination, the non-magical human world.

Eyes turning bright white as he tilted his head towards the ceiling of the temple, the Foci floated with his gaze as the ceiling began to glow in a spectacular fashion.

Bright dots of many sizes and colours began to appear magically, this was a magical representation of the cosmos itself. Focusing on his specific destination, the magical stars moved dramatically and fast increasing with incredible speed, after a minute of intense blurs of colours, the image finally slowing down and zoomed towards one specific star.  
  
“There it is… _Earth…_ ” Fen'Harel said with distaste in his mouth as his eyes landed on the blue orb floating around its sun. Looking closer at the blue orb a little dot flashed near a country on the southern side of the planet. “There… it is… my ingredient.”

With a large blast of magic, the Foci spun in outstanding speeds, it spun faster and faster as it used all its gained power until the air in the large temple felt electric at the touch. With a loud sound of magical thunder, the orb ripped a hole in space itself and with a bright light explosion, it was gone.

“Now we wait…” Fen'Harel smirked in glee.

 

* * *

 

 

**_Location:  Lakes Entrance, Australia, Earth – One minute ago_ **

****

**_Time: 8:46 AM_ **

****

**_Date: 6th February 2019_ **

 

* * *

 

 

Scrambling off the floor in shock after a few minutes of silence, Adrian looked at his hands in confusion. One moment he was cleaning the sauce splatter from the pot of sauce cooking on the stove, and the next his hand burned in severe pain as the tissue in his hand somehow became a little wolf statue with green glowing eyes.  
  
“What the actual hell? I must be tripping out… what just happened? There is no way that just happened? I’m still holding the tissue… so what the hell?” Adrian said to himself in disbelief.

Quickly walking over to the sink to wash his hands to remove the stinging, Adrian swiftly dried them and grabbed his phone off the kitchen bench as he decided to finally message his online friends on the gaming app Discord to occupy his rushing confusing thoughts.  
  
“@everyone: Hey guys hope you having a great afternoon and evening over there! I just need to do some chores around the place and then I can finally join voice chat and find out about this secret you all are hiding from me! Haha ceya soon! :3c”

Placing his phone into his jean pocket, Adrian sighed deeply and rubbed his head as if it was in pain as he sat down in the living room. _I still don’t know what is going on around here? First, I get the feeling someone was watching me which was creepy as hell, then I swear someone pulled at my towel which makes no sense… and then! My hands decided to burn like hell for a minute because I daydreamed holding some weird wolf thing? Gosh, I need more coffee or sleep… or coffee…_

Thinking about coffee gave Adrian the idea to try out the new coffee brand his dad had bought an hour ago for the new machine in the kitchen.

Getting up from the comfy couch and taking one step was the last thing Adrian did before screaming in shock and ducking behind the coffee table as a weird large sphere object smashed right through the skylight above while shattering the TV in the process, making the room creepily quiet.

Slowly raising his head above the coffee table in shock to look at the damage, Adrian couldn’t believe what just occurred. “What the actual f-word is going on around here… what the hell was that… shit now the TV is ruined and the skylight is toast…. I’m so gonna get in trouble!”

Quickly grabbing his smartphone, Adrian decided to call his mum, pressing the green phone icon, he quickly scrolled through his contacts until he reached the ‘M’ category. Selecting mum, he waited for a response.

“Hello?” Angela's voice echoed out of the speaker.

“Ahh... hey mum how’s everything going?” Adrian said with a stuttered voice.

“Okay… none of that, what did you do?” Angela questioned in an annoyed mum tone of voice.

“Umm… well, it wasn’t me actually… okay whatever, I’ll explain, so… first I had a few weird experiences… don’t ask me to explain cause I don’t know how to explain it, and then I was like okay what the hell? So, then I went to sit in the living room all stressed out and what not, and then! I felt like trying the new coffee brand. So, I went to go try it and just as I got up, no joke, a freaking sphere ball crashed through the living room skylight and broke the TV!” Adrian said all in one breath in a panicked state.

“Sigh… Adrian we… check… okay? “Angela replied back in a broken response. Adrian raised one brown eyebrow up in confusion, “Hello mum? You're breaking up!” he said slightly louder to try and see if she could hear him.

“What?... can’t… hear… ou…” she replied again in a broken tone.  
  
Willing to try again, Adrian was just about to reply when a huge blast of some kind knocked him over violently and most of the house’s furniture in the open living area in one violent messy sweep.  This caused the windows to smash brutally as glass shards of all sizes flew in all directions becoming lethal projectiles while furniture and personal items ricocheted all over the place in seconds.  
  
Screaming on the ground in fright, Adrian yelled into his phone. “MUM! I THINK THAT THING IS A BOMB! IT JUST BLEW UP HALF THE LIVING ROOM! I DON’T KNOW WHAT TO DO!”

Getting up from the ground with his phone still attached to his ear, Adrian quickly felt his face and body for glass or blood, but his eyes bulged in complete terror and curiosity at the sight before him. The orb thing that crashed through the skylight was hovering and spinning like crazy as it let out a sick bright green light. _What in the world is that? Oh my god … it can’t be some alien device?_

“Mum… I think your Alien history shows on the history channel are legit now…” Adrian whispered into the phone to lighten the mood.  
  
“… Adrian, can you hear me? HELLO!? I’ll call the house phone in a minute! I’ve not been able to hear from you for a while. Talk soon!” Angela said as she hung up the call.  
  
“Shit! I need to get out of here, I don’t trust that thing!” Adrian yelled out to himself as he shoved his phone back into his pocket. Quickly searching for his backpack around the now ruined living room was a bit of a struggle but it was a must, he had personal items in there he could not lose.

Quickly looking under the flipped couch was a success, “There you are!” He yelled as he went to grab his bag. Pulling at its strap, Adrian was nearly successful as he nearly pulled his bag out from under the couch before the air in the room changed for the worse.

A loud explosive bang echoed throughout the room as the alien orb slammed into the floorboards smashing most of them around it in the process. Watching the orb in disbelief, Adrian screamed as it let out a huge green vortex of some kind, it was bright, loud, and beyond strong.

“WHAT THE HELL IS THAT!? OH MY GOD! HOLY SHIT!” Adrian panicked as he felt his body being dragged towards the spinning vortex, quickly trying to grab onto anything sturdy, he found himself holding onto the dining table for dear life.

“Oh my gosh, what the actual fuck, oh my god I’m going to die! This is not possible! What is that thing!? It’s sucking up everything in the room like a tornado!” He yelled to himself as he felt his sweaty panicked hands begin to loosen their grip on the leg of the heavy table as the vortex grew larger and stronger sucking up everything in its path.  
  
“No, no, no, no, no! I am not losing my grip! EFF YOU VORTEX TORNADO ALIEN PORTAL THING!” Holding on the leg of the table in a death grip, Adrian heard the house phone begin to ring, he knew that on the other side of that call was his concerned mother.

Looking at it sadly, he knew deep down in his gut that this was it, this was the end. Where ever this green vortex took him, used him or killed him… he would never see his family again, he would never hear their voices and friends voices again, he would never get to wake up in his bed again or experience any of his normal routines, hobbies, or favourite foods, he would never get to find love or start a family or his career. His life was over, he would never hear his mother’s voice again.

In his beyond stressed panicked state, the whole world felt like it was now in slow-motion, he watched in shock as the ceiling and roof slowly caved in letting in its tiles, insulation and layers of dust. The pristine white modern walls began to crack under the immense pressure and wind of the vortex, sucking in gaping holes of plaster and paint in many chunks. He watched as the stove lit up in flames as the gas pipe exploded in a complete fireball destroying everything in its path.

Adrian knew he had to let go, it was the only way of surviving this horrible destruction. Taking in one deep breath and smiling sadly as a tear left his left eye, Adrian let go and watched everything he knew and loved, vanish before his eyes in a twist of green and darkness.

His body was twisted and pulled as it felt like he was falling from an immense height and pulled across a surface, all he could do was scream for his life as the wind and pressure blasted across his face as he slowly lost awareness from the extreme feeling of falling as his body rolled in the vortex.

The house phone still rung in his ears as he lost consciousness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bolded text in this chapter was used from the Dragon Age Wiki Page as a reference! https://dragonage.fandom.com/wiki/Codex_entry:_Arlathan:_Part_One


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